Miami Private InvestigationsThe 2020 Census counted 80,241 people in the Kendall census-designated place, the largest CDP in Miami-Dade County. A CDP is how the Census Bureau counts a community that has a name but no municipal government: CDPs "represent unincorporated communities that do not have a legally defined boundary or an active, functioning governmental structure" (Census Bureau). In everyday speech "Kendall" also covers neighbors such as Kendall West and Kendale Lakes, which the Bureau counts separately.
Miami Private Investigations is a licensed Florida agency (FDACS A1800135), veteran-led and bilingual. Our office is in Coral Gables, not Kendall. This page covers what being unincorporated means for a Kendall case, the family and property questions that most often need an investigator, the courts and clerk involved, and the legal boundaries every Florida PI works within.
Unincorporated: why it matters to an investigation
With no city government, Miami-Dade County fills both roles. The county's FY 2025–26 adopted budget says an estimated 1.2 million people, 43.4% of the county, live in the Unincorporated Municipal Service Area, where the County provides municipal-type services "such as local sheriff patrol, local parks and local roads," along with planning and code enforcement (Miami-Dade budget). In practice:
- Incident reports come from the county's sheriff patrol, not a city police department.
- Permits, code cases and zoning files are county records.
- Addresses read "Miami, FL." Miami Dade College's Kendall Campus, which has served the area since 1967, is at 11011 SW 104 Street, Miami, FL 33176 (MDC Kendall). A records search that filters on the word "Kendall" can miss the right person or parcel.
Who lives in Kendall
The American Community Survey (five-year estimates, 2019–2023) puts Kendall at 30,283 occupied homes. About 61.4% are owner-occupied, well above the county's 52.2% (ACS B25003). Some 8,360 households, about 27.6%, include at least one person under 18 (ACS B11005). Of 74,254 residents aged five or older, 45,091, about 60.7%, speak Spanish at home (ACS C16001).
A high ownership rate matters in family cases. When a couple owns the house, the deed, the mortgage and any recent liens or refinancing sit at the center of how the marital estate gets divided, and those documents are public in the Clerk's official records.
Why Kendall families and their lawyers call us
Divorce and the marital estate
Florida does not require fault to end a marriage; the ground is that it is "irretrievably broken" (s. 61.052). What conduct can still change is the money. The court may consider "the adultery of either spouse and any resulting economic impact" when deciding alimony (s. 61.08), and "intentional dissipation, waste, depletion, or destruction of marital assets" within two years before the petition supports an unequal distribution (s. 61.075(1)(i)). Our asset checks trace property, liens and business interests, and our infidelity investigations focus on spending and conduct that bears on those two statutes.
Time-sharing and parenting plans
Florida starts from "a rebuttable presumption that equal time-sharing of a minor child is in the best interests of the minor child" (s. 61.13(2)(c)1). Rebutting it takes evidence tied to the statutory factors, among them "the moral fitness of the parents," "the mental and physical health of the parents," and a parent's capacity to keep a home "free from substance abuse." Child custody investigations document conduct at exchanges, school pickups and other public settings, and they stop at the property line.
Trackers, phones and the divorce filing
Thinking about tracking a spouse's car or reading a spouse's phone? Stop first. Florida's tracking statute presumes consent revoked once one spouse files for dissolution (s. 934.425(3)), and recording a private conversation without everyone's consent is a felony (s. 934.03). We use lawful surveillance instead, which also keeps the evidence usable.
Screening and locating people
Before a nanny, a caregiver or a contractor starts working inside the home, it is worth checking the public record. Background investigations confirm identity and history. When a party to a case has moved and must be served, our skip trace services work from lawful sources to find a current address. Property and injury claim investigations are available to carriers and defense counsel as well.
Courts and clerk for a Kendall case
Kendall is in the 11th Judicial Circuit. The circuit's courthouse list has no branch named for Kendall. It does include the South Dade Justice Center at 10710 S.W. 211 Street, Miami, FL 33189, and the county's main civil building, the Osvaldo N. Soto Miami-Dade Justice Center at 20 N.W. 1st Avenue, which replaced the historic courthouse after a November 10, 2025 ribbon cutting (county release). The list also names the Miami-Dade County Children's Courthouse at 155 NW 3rd Street. Where a given hearing is held depends on the type of case, so follow your notice or your attorney.
Records come from the Miami-Dade Clerk of the Court and Comptroller, through its civil, family and probate case search and its official records search. People handling a family case without a lawyer can find Supreme Court-approved forms through the Florida Courts family self-help pages, which give no legal advice.
A photo or video must be authenticated before it is admitted (s. 90.901), so our reports record who observed what, from where and at what time. A party's own statements, lawfully observed, can come in as admissions (s. 90.803(18)(a)). Lawyers can read more on our attorney support page and in attorney testimonials.
Communities around Kendall
Most of the neighboring places below are also unincorporated. With their 2020 Census counts:
- Kendall West (36,536), Kendale Lakes (55,646) and The Hammocks (59,480), all census-designated places.
- The Crossings (23,276), Three Lakes (16,540) and Sunset (15,912).
- Olympia Heights (12,873), Palmetto Estates (13,498), Richmond West (35,884) and Country Walk (16,951).
- Pinecrest (18,388) and Palmetto Bay (24,439), both incorporated villages with their own governments.
From first call to final report
- Start with the decision. Call (305) 686-7826 or email admin@miamiprivateinvestigations.com and tell us what you need to decide, such as whether to seek a modified parenting plan. Unauthorized disclosure of client information is grounds for discipline (s. 493.6118(1)(e)).
- Records review. The Clerk's docket, the deed and mortgage history, and any prior filings between the parties.
- Agreed scope. You approve the goal, the methods and the hours in writing.
- Fieldwork. Surveillance from public places, interviews and record pulls, logged as they happen.
- Report. Timestamped images, a narrative log and findings your attorney can use at mediation or a hearing.
The legal line for Florida investigators
Chapter 493 covers learning a person's "habits, conduct, movements, whereabouts" and "securing evidence" for trial (s. 493.6101). It grants no special access. For a Kendall client:
- We do not enter a home, a gated subdivision or a back yard without permission (s. 810.08, s. 810.09).
- We do not place GPS devices; investigators have no general exception (s. 934.425).
- We do not pose as police (s. 493.6118(1)(i)) or lie to a bank for account data (15 U.S.C. § 6821).
See the Florida Statute 493 guide for the full rules.
Services for Kendall clients
Evidence aimed at the time-sharing presumption and s. 61.13 factors.
Conduct and spending that affect alimony or distribution.
Homes, mortgages, liens and business interests.
Lawful observation from public roads and places.
Nannies, caregivers and contractors working in the home.
Current addresses for service of process.
Property and injury claim checks for carriers.
Witness work and reports built for family court.