Though I go into more detail in my video on Spousal Surveillance on our Videos page, I've outlined a few basic points below.
If you suspect infidelity, you may want to hire a private investigator to provide surveillance on your spouse, but you want to ensure it will serve your purposes.
Surveillance Can Be a Tricky Issue
You need to be sure that there's a legitimate basis for those suspicions. In order to establish adultery as a cause of action for divorce, a person has to prove two things: inclination and opportunity.
In short, you have to show that your spouse would have been inclined to pursue an infidelity and then establish that they placed themselves in an opportunity to have consummated that illicit act. Typically, proof of infidelity is based on circumstantial evidence, as neither spouse is likely to admit to adultery.
Factors to Consider Before Hiring an Investigator
Whether or not hiring a private investigator is a necessary or useful thing in a particular case depends on multiple factors. First, there's a significant expense involved with hiring a private investigator.
If you already have circumstantial evidence of adultery, you may be able to secure a divorce in an uncontested fashion with your spouse through a no-fault divorce, thereby avoiding both the expense of the investigator and lessening the emotional burden for yourself as well.
Extending an Opportunity
“We oftentimes tell our client that even if we have clear evidence of fault against their spouse, we often can extend to them the opportunity and the courtesy to still dissolve the marriage on an uncontested basis.”
When that opportunity is extended, if the other party knows he or she is guilty of fault, they tend to appreciate that you approached the case in that uncontested fashion and usually much more reasonable, and sometimes much more generous in setting the terms of the uncontested divorce.