What is a lifestyle investigation? To put it quite simply, it’s an investigation into all possible points of interest in a subject’s daily life. While lifestyle investigations can provide crucial clarity in most aspects of our lives, what’s imperative is finding the right investigator to conduct it.
When it comes to welcoming people into the fold of our everyday lives, we typically depend on our instincts to tell us who to bring close and who to keep at arms-length. We believe we can spot red flags from a mile away when someone shows us who they really are. The fact of the matter is that no one could anticipate all the other shoes that could potentially drop in any given situation.
We all have a circle of people we consider close, trusted individuals. They could be our family members, our friends, our coworkers, or all of the above. This applies to both our personal lives and our jobs, but it’s important to remember that we can’t always trust our instincts when it comes to individuals outside that circle. When you’re considering bringing a new person into or near that circle, it’s important to have all the facts, and that’s where a lifestyle investigation comes in.
Lifestyle investigations can come in handy in a number of situations, but principally, the can be triggered by significant changes in our lives:
Long-term contractors
When you’re vetting candidates to perform long-term contracted services for you, it’s important that you know the broad scope of their character, particularly if they’re going to be in your home and close to your family. This may apply to positions such as home renovation companies, caretakers, or housekeepers. It’s common practice to check references for these contractors, but very few employers go beyond the scope of the job, which can have unpredictable consequences. For instance, if an individual has never stolen in the workplace, but had a history of stealing from loved ones, that would not come up in checking their professional references. Having a private investigator verify details like this can spare your family a lot of headaches.
Business partners
Conducting background checks on prospective employees should be standard practice when it comes to hiring protocol, but when it comes to bringing a new business partner into the fold, this calls for a much broader lifestyle investigation. A prospective partner’s business reputation may proceed them—they may have maintained successful businesses, built a strong network with other reputable industry leaders, and have a positive relationship with their clients. But what if they have a history of sexual harassment, that’s not necessarily something that might come up on a personal reference. For a litany of reasons, incidents of sexual harassment may go unreported, uninvestigated, and ultimately determined to be non-relevant to any future reference. Without due-diligence, current partners have no idea of knowing how a candidate’s interpersonal behavior may negatively impact their business.
Custodial guardians
There are few situations as important to exercise due-diligence as the safety and welfare of minors. Across the country, there are hundreds of thousands of children who are being coparented by divorced individuals, cared for by grandparents or other non-familial guardians, or are being placed in foster care when their own living situations become unacceptable. A lifestyle investigation into guardian(s) in question can sometimes literally be the difference between safety and danger for minor children. For example, two grandparents whose daughter has become unable to care for her children. With the children’s father still being alive, custody then goes to him, but the grandparents are concerned for their grandchildren because the father has a history of instability. Maybe it manifests in the form of substance abuse, or gambling addiction, but whatever the case—unless it is well-documented by the court, the court may have little cause to deny custody. A lifestyle investigation would mean that an independent private investigator can document relevant issues in a prospective custodian’s lifestyle that could negatively impact a child’s welfare.
If you are in need of a lifestyle investigation, call Lauth Investigations International for information on our catalog of lifestyle investigation services. We carry an A+ with the Better Business Bureau, and are one of the top-rated private investigation firms in the United States. Call 317-951-1100, or visit us online at www.lauthinveststg.wpengine.com.