A private investigator, also known as private detective, private eye, or pi, is an individual that is used by authorized individuals or professional groups to do research for personal or business reasons. The private investigators are popular in the investigation of infidelity, for matters of divorce, families unhappy with a current police investigation of a crime, and lawyers or law firms. Insurance companies may also use a private investigator to detect fraud in an insurance claim. If you are in need a private investigator to a personal matter, there are some things to consider. For starters, if you are using a private investigator for the purpose of obtaining information about a cheating spouse to the evidence in the filing for divorce, most areas now allow no-fault divorce, which requires no wrongdoing on the part of either spouse. Check with your jurisdiction before hiring a private investigator, because the filing for no-fault divorce can save you much time and money, against using a private investigator. If your personal circumstances still require the use of a private investigator, do your research thoroughly before choosing one. In almost every state, need to be licensed private investigators or be certified, but licensure is not usually hard to obtain. Simply fill out an application and pay the fee is enough to warrant in many states. Do not think just because a researcher submits these credentials, that they are experts in their field. Interview with the investigator that you plan on using. Discover what your specialty it, what background they have on the field, and what they can do for you. Ask about the reports they produce, if overturned any audio or video tape together with their research, and generally spend much time investigating a topic. Someone who spends an exuberant amount of time a suspect through receiving a higher fee is someone to avoid, also, someone who spends a lot of time researching can not offer anything of substance. A typical investigation was conducted by a private investigator varies depending on the type of research that you have requested. For civil matters, the investigation concluded within usually within a week. The researcher will spend your entire week watching and recording the suspect, and will produce a detailed report that lists the time and the actions that occurred. Usually accompanies the video tape this report so that you can see exactly what the researcher saw. The audiotape and pictures can also be attached to the report. For more intricate research, the researcher can take anywhere from a few weeks a matter of years to complete their investigation. May not even be able to produce results after this period of time, depending on the nature of what is being investigated. Cases like this are not usually the norm, and are reserved for families who hire a researcher to review a crime such as murder of a loved one, when they feel the local Police Department isn 't that does a well enough job. The private investigators, as the least good, can come in a very steep price. Their services can range anywhere from $ 50 to $ 300 per hour with written reports and reviews of the work done costing in the thousands. The private investigators are not cheap, and should be reserved for emergencies, or for businesses that can be hung to lose money to fraud, such as insurance companies. Those who use private investigators to personal matters such as divorce, would be better to save your money for other purposes.