Matrimonial and Infidelity Investigations

Updated 5 October 2026 by Investigation Bureau

When you can no longer take what you are told on trust, only a clear answer helps. Investigation Bureau carries out discreet, lawful matrimonial investigations across the UK and gives you that answer either way, backed by evidence instead of suspicion.

No work we take on is more personal than this, and people usually come to it at a very low point. Two things are worth knowing straight away. A professional investigation clears the other person more often than most people expect, and that is a genuine result, not money wasted. And you do not owe us an explanation. Whatever the situation is, it will not be new to the investigator you speak to, and nobody here will judge it.

The first conversation is free and confidential: send a confidential enquiry and we reply within one working day. If you share a home with the person, say so in your message. We will agree safe contact times and a discreet way of communicating before anything else happens.

What a matrimonial investigation can establish

• Where someone really is. The hours explained as working late, the gym or a trip away, checked against what actually happened.
• Who they are with. Recorded in timestamped photographs and video, taken in public places.
• A pattern, not a moment. One evening proves very little. A documented pattern across the right days is what turns suspicion into certainty.
• A second household, a second life, or money leaving the marriage. Where finances are shared, this is often the part that matters most.
• Whether a person is who you were told they are. Identity verification, for when you have been given a name and a story but shown nothing.

How a case runs

1. A free, confidential first conversation. You tell us what you have noticed and what you need to know. We tell you plainly whether surveillance can realistically answer it. Sometimes the honest advice is that it cannot, or should not, and that advice costs nothing.
2. Planning around where the answer is. We pick the days and hours that matter, usually the specific occasions you already doubt, so that you pay for the smallest operation capable of settling the question.
3. Deployment. Our investigators and vetted field operatives observe lawfully, in public, using ordinary vehicles and discreet equipment. Nothing is done that would alert the person or embarrass you.
4. Reporting. You receive a written, timestamped report with clear images, delivered how and when you choose. That includes arrangements that keep it out of sight at home.

Our covert surveillance page describes the fieldwork discipline in more detail. For a sense of how a matrimonial operation tends to unfold, read our illustrative surveillance case story.

Evidence that holds up if it has to

Peace of mind, not a court case, is what most people want from this work. If proceedings do follow, whether divorce, finances or arrangements for children, evidence gathered lawfully by a professional investigator, timestamped and logged with a chain of custody, is usable and credible. Evidence taken from a hacked phone, from spyware or from an unlawfully tracked vehicle is not. At best it is inadmissible. At worst it is a criminal offence, and it gives the other side something to use against you. That is the strongest single reason to instruct a professional instead of trying to do it yourself.

What we will not do

We do not get into phones, email or social media accounts. We do not obtain bank or phone records by deception. We do not put a tracker on a vehicle unless a lawful basis has been established first, and our guide to GPS tracker law explains where that line sits. We also decline cases where the pattern points to control or intimidation and not to a genuine question. If you are frightened of the person you are asking about, tell us at the start. An investigator may not be the right help, and we will point you towards what is.

Frequently asked questions

Is it legal to hire a private investigator to follow my partner?

Yes. In the UK, surveillance carried out in public places, proportionately and for a legitimate purpose, is lawful. The law restricts the methods, not the act of instructing an investigator. Our guide, is it legal to hire a private investigator, sets out exactly where the limits are.

Will my partner find out I hired an investigator?

They will not hear it from us. Operatives are trained to go unnoticed, and inside the bureau a case is known only to the people who need to work on it. Every contact is shaped around your circumstances: agreed contact windows, a separate email address, and reports held back until you are somewhere you can read them safely.

How much does a matrimonial investigation cost?

Most matrimonial cases need one to three days of surveillance. Typical UK market day rates are £500 to £1,200 per operative, including vehicle, equipment and reporting. We give you a fixed quote in writing before any work begins. Our cost guide gives the full context.

What if the investigation finds nothing?

Then the question is settled, and settled in the best way. Investigations of this kind quite often end with the partner cleared: the late meetings really were meetings. A clean result from a professional is evidence in its own right, and the relief of knowing is often worth the fee by itself.

Can I just check their phone instead?

We would ask you not to. Getting into someone's device or accounts without consent is an offence under the Computer Misuse Act, and it makes whatever you find unusable. In practice it also hands you fragments (a name, a deleted thread, no context) that feed the suspicion without settling it. Our guide to the signs of a cheating partner explains what to do instead.

Replace suspicion with an answer. Start with a free, confidential conversation with an investigator: send a confidential enquiry. If you share a home, tell us and we will agree safe contact arrangements first.

Related reading: Signs of a cheating partner · Covert surveillance · A surveillance case story