Child Custody Investigations in Pinecrest, FL
You know something is off when your child comes home from the other house. We document what actually happens on those days so a Miami-Dade judge sees it too.
A Judge Needs Facts, and Facts Are Hard to Get Behind a Long Driveway
Miami-Dade family judges build parenting plans around the child's best interests under Chapter 61 of the Florida Statutes. In practice that means a judge hears two parents describe the same weekend and has to decide which version is closer to the truth. Your account is testimony. Time-stamped video of the other parent's front gate at 1 a.m. is evidence.
Wasser Investigations has worked custody cases in Pinecrest since 1985, and Travis Wasser still runs every one of them himself. We document exchanges at school, who stays overnight on the other parent's days, drinking at Suniland or South Miami restaurants during parenting time, and school pickups that never happen. The report is written for a courtroom, with the timesharing calendar as its spine.
Pinecrest makes this harder than most places. One-acre lots, setback homes and private drives off Old Cutler Road mean the house itself is rarely visible from the street. A parked car on a quiet avenue near Pinecrest Gardens gets noticed by a neighbor within the hour. We have spent forty years learning where to sit, when to move, and when to pick the subject up on Red Road or US-1 instead.
Pinecrest Parents With Doubts, and Attorneys Who Need Evidence
For Parents: You Have Doubts About What Happens at the Other Home
Maybe your child mentioned a new "friend" who sleeps over. Maybe you smelled alcohol at an exchange, or the nanny the other parent hired has a history nobody checked. Tell us what you have seen and heard. We will explain what Florida law lets us document and what it does not, and we will be honest if the other parent turns out to be doing fine. Finding nothing is a result too, and it saves you a fight you would not win.
For Attorneys: Footage That Holds Up in a Miami-Dade Courtroom
You get time-stamped video, a written chain of custody, and an investigator who has testified in South Florida family courts since the 1980s. We schedule surveillance around the timesharing calendar and the motion you are preparing, whether that is a modification, a contempt filing, or a request for supervised visitation. Call Travis directly; there is no intake desk between you and the person watching the house.
Six Things That Change Parenting Plans
Overnight guests during timesharing
We log who arrives, when they arrive and when they leave. A background check tells you and the court who that person is before they spend another night around your child.
Alcohol and drug use
Drinking at a bar on US-1 during parenting time, driving home afterward with the children in the car, or regular contact with people who have drug histories. We record it from a lawful distance.
Supervision
Children left alone in the house, handed off to sitters or household staff nobody vetted, or left with a person the court has already barred from contact.
Living conditions and residence
Does the other parent actually live at the address listed in the parenting plan, or at a partner's place across the village? Who else lives there, and who comes and goes?
Schedule compliance
Late pickups at Palmetto Elementary or Pinecrest Elementary, skipped exchanges, school absences, and "working late" claims that do not match where the car was parked.
Relocation and violation of orders
Moving boxes, a lease in another county, or contact with a prohibited person. We document the early signs before the relocation happens, when a judge can still act.
Custody Surveillance on Acre Lots and Quiet Avenues
Pinecrest surveillance is slow work. Homes sit far back from the road, hedges are tall, and the streets between Killian Drive and Old Cutler are quiet enough that a strange vehicle stands out. We plan each session around the route rather than the house: the school drop-off, the drive to Dadeland or The Falls, the restaurant on a Friday night. Public roads, parking lots and shopping centers are where the proof is gathered.
We never make contact with the children or the other parent. If a session becomes risky, we end it and resume another day. One burned surveillance can cost you the case, so patience is part of the price.
Your Pinecrest Custody File
- Time-stamped video and photographs from every outing
- A written report organized around the timesharing calendar
- Background reports on any adult seen with your children
- Documented chain of custody for each piece of evidence
- Investigator testimony at a Miami-Dade hearing or trial, at the Children's Courthouse downtown or the South Dade Justice Center
Questions Pinecrest Parents Ask Before Hiring Us
Is it legal to follow someone through Pinecrest?
Yes, on public roads, in parking lots and at businesses open to the public. We do not trespass, enter homes, record audio, or approach the children. Private, gated property is observed from outside it, which is why the route matters more than the house.
Will my ex know I hired an investigator?
Only you and your attorney know. We keep our distance from the home, rotate vehicles, and never park on the same stretch of road twice in a row. In a village where neighbors talk, that discipline is the whole job.
Do you follow my child to school?
We follow the parent. If the parent drives the children to school, we document the drop-off from a distance and stay with the parent. We never approach, question or photograph children up close.
How quickly can you reach Pinecrest?
Our office is on Ponce de Leon Boulevard in Coral Gables, about 15 minutes north by US-1 or Red Road. Travel time is built into the schedule, so we are in position before the exchange starts, never arriving mid-session.
What should I expect to pay?
Custody surveillance is billed hourly against a written estimate you approve first. Most Pinecrest cases take two to four sessions over a few weeks, with the first session telling us whether more time will help. The first call costs nothing.
Find Out What Happens When the Kids Are Not With You
Call Travis Wasser at (305) 278-8700. Describe what you have seen, and he will tell you what can be documented, how long it should take, and what it will cost.
Request a Free Consultation