I’ll admit this is a how long is a piece of string question but there are factors you need to consider if you are looking to hire a private investigator to answer your question; How Long Does It Take to Catch a Cheating Partner?
the factors that affect duration
I’ll break this down straight away for you and then expand on each one so that you can go to the factors that affect you.
In no order;
- How much information you already have
- The cheating partners routine
- Your budget
- How much information you want us to get
- The time it takes to get the money shot
Once those topics have been cleared up I’ll then talk about some other factors and answer the question of; how long does it take to catch a cheating partner?
how much information you already have
We work with you throughout the whole investigation and take intelligence from you daily to give us the edge.
With that said, if you have nothing to go on then we will build the evidence from the ground up. The more you have as a starting point the less work we need to do to identify an affair so the quicker we can prove or disprove any cheating.
Their routines
How people cheat is varied and adds to how long it takes to catch a cheating partner.
It is very varied and has some factors to it. If one of the couple have a property to use then they will go there. If there is no property available then hotels maybe used or even the back of cars (Yes, we have seen this lots of times).
Other factors include children. If school times and school holidays come into play they can slow the investigation down as they will stop seeing each other.
Of course, work and employment is to be considered because most of us need an income so if someone works 9am – 5pm and their affair partner is busy other hours then this reduces the chance of meet ups and slows us down again.
Vehicle trackers if able to be used really help to identify routines and meet ups very quickly and are always my first recommendation into the investigation if feasible.
Your budget
A harsh truth but the more money you can throw at the situation then the quicker we are likely to get a result to prove or disprove any affair. If you are limited then we can only deploy for you when you’re able to provide the funds.
Our 5 hour minimum surveillance deployment was built around most people’s budget.
Want to know the costs involved check out our costs page!
how much info you need
For everyone this will be different. A huge difference is men versus women. Men usually just want to know that there is an affair whereas women want to know exactly what is going on, who the affair is with, the background of that person and everything else around them.
Clearly, the more info you want will add time to the investigation so that we can evidence what you need if possible.
Typical cheating partner cases have the routine of; discovering the affair, followed by the routine of the affair finished with information gathering on who the affair is taking place with.
The money shot
What is the money shot?
Quite simply it is evidence that proves the affair beyond all reasonable doubt. Video evidence of a passionate kiss, sex in the back of a car, leaving in a hotel in very different state to how they entered or even an audio recording of the affair couple saying I love you to each other.
All of which we have evidenced in the ten years of business.
Quite often this can be very difficult to get, based on the environment. If a couple have sex in the back of a car in a public car park then it’s very easy but can take a while to get to the that stage. If a couple have the routine of going to one house and doing nothing but entering and leaving then waiting for that moment they do something in public can take a little while and add time onto the investigation.
What makes it take longer?
Our longest cheating partner cases have spanned over 6 to 12 months! For a client in this position the emotional toll is horrendous so we always offer help and advice as best we can and working together is crucial.
Three mains reasons why cheating partner investigations can take longer;
Client Misreading
We are led by you. You as our client are living this emotional rollercoaster so you feed us intelligence we can act on. If a client misreads signals from their partner and there is no affair but the belief is there, we can end up following innocent partners intermittently for months.
Now, we do manage the proportionality side of things so we are not harassing and stalking on behalf of our clients but when the strongest belief is that a partner is cheating we will look to prove or disprove that. Some clients want every stone unturned to disprove any affair before they will be satisfied and as such this drags out our investigation process.
Infrequent Meet Ups
A simple reason but if cheating partners only meet once a month then we need to be in the right place that one time in 28 to 31 days. We miss that window then we will have to wait and go again which drags out the horrid situation for our clients.
Our Clients
Everyone is different and respond to our work in different ways. Some clients employ us two days in July but then do not employ us again for months.
It is a very personal situation so I don’t pry into everything as it is private but you can sometimes be a reason (justifiably so) why an investigation takes longer than it needs to.
Can it be solved in a day?
As a business this is not the best for profits however, we often do catch long term affairs the day we start. If the affair is long term and habits are set and cheaters are meeting daily then it is very normal we catch them on Day One.
These are always our happiest clients (kind of) as it slams the door shut instantly and is low on costs.
If you’re in this exact scenario then please get in touch straight away so we can help you!
Typical Timelines
How long does it take to catch a cheating partner then?
With experience, from start to finish I would say most cases are handled within 2 to 3 weeks if we follow the normal routine of a weeks tracking followed by targeted surveillance into desktop work to finish the reporting for you.
I don’t have any hard fast data on this at the moment but that is very typical.
As a client this time is very stressful and we work with you at every step of the way. Often acting as a therapist and sounding board as lots of client’s keep the investigation quiet until we’re finished.
Finishing up
Please remember, usually our evidence in cheating partner cases isn’t likely to be used in court so if this is something you’re considering make sure you’re hiring us for the right reasons. You may get the answers in a slower way but using us almost always gets the answers quicker. This lets you move on and get on with life faster.
As always, thanks for reading. Dan