We regularly receive calls to conduct asset investigations on adverse parties in a civil case. The target of our investigation could be a responsible party in a serious automobile accident or a judgment debtor from a small claim action or a complicated tort involving a failed business enterprise, for example. Occasionally in family law investigations for counsel we have found financial assets that were fraudulently conveyed in anticipation of a divorce filing.

We can never exactly anticipate what information is available in an asset investigation. In the absence of a subpoena, there are federal laws that prohibit searching for banking and investment assets using pretext, an old investigative technique. However, financial profiles can be developed on a subject by an exhaustive search of possible civil and criminal filings in state and federal courts. It is also critical to research county recorders offices and other agencies, at the local and state levels, where liens and other filings are maintained. Further information can be gleaned in an old fashioned “gumshoe” approach: talking to individuals who might be willing to share what they know about the subject, ex-business partners, ex-spouses and other litigants, for example.

When you need to find the money, call Trace Investigations at 800-310-8857.

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