Miami Private InvestigationsAsset searches at a glance
- What it is: research that identifies what a person or company owns, owes and has recently moved, built from public filings and lawful databases.
- Common uses: divorce and equitable distribution, collecting a judgment, deciding whether a defendant is worth suing, vetting a partner or deal, fraud and estate disputes.
- What it can find: deeds and mortgages, Florida companies and their officers, UCC filings, judgment liens, lawsuits, bankruptcies, and vehicles or vessels where a permissible purpose applies.
- What it can't lawfully find: bank balances or statements. Those come only through a subpoena, discovery or a court order that your attorney obtains.
- What you receive: a sourced written report, copies of the underlying records, and testimony if needed.
- Credentials: Florida license A1800135, veteran-led, bilingual, Coral Gables office.
People who expect to owe money rarely leave it in their own name. A house is deeded to a brother months before the divorce petition; a new LLC lists the debtor's girlfriend as registered agent. Each move leaves a trace in a public record. An asset investigation finds those traces and puts them in order for your lawyer.
What is an asset search?
An asset search is a structured look at a subject's financial footprint: what they hold, what is pledged against it, and what has changed hands. Florida's definition of private investigation expressly covers inquiries into a person's "transactions" and "affiliations," and "securing evidence" for trials (s. 493.6101, F.S.). Asset work applies that to money and property.
A basic asset check confirms what someone owns in their own name today. A hidden asset investigation follows property through relatives, nominees and entities, reviews past transfers, and compares claims with lifestyle.
Who needs an asset investigation, and when?
- Divorce and equitable distribution. Florida courts may divide marital property unequally when a spouse engaged in "the intentional dissipation, waste, depletion, or destruction of marital assets after the filing of the petition or within 2 years prior to the filing of the petition" (s. 61.075(1)(i), F.S.). Records showing property shifted to relatives or new entities in that window give your attorney something concrete to argue. Starting before financial disclosures are due lets them be tested against the record. Spending on a paramour can matter too; see infidelity investigations.
- Collecting a judgment. A creditor holding an unsatisfied judgment may start proceedings supplementary to pursue the debtor's property (s. 56.29, F.S.). Knowing in advance which properties, entities and transfers exist lets counsel aim those proceedings rather than fish.
- Before filing suit. A pre-litigation search answers a blunt question: if you win, is there anything to collect?
- Business due diligence. Before a partnership, loan or acquisition, a search checks the other side's claimed holdings against the record. See also corporate due diligence.
- Fraud, embezzlement and estate disputes. When a partner diverts funds or a caretaker drains an elderly relative's savings, the money often reappears as property or a new company. See fraud investigations.
What can a lawful asset search find?
Most useful evidence in an asset case starts in a public record. The skill is knowing which office holds what, and searching every name and entity the subject uses.
Real estate
The Miami-Dade Property Appraiser lets anyone search property by owner, address or folio. Deeds, mortgages, satisfactions and recorded liens sit in the Miami-Dade Clerk's official records. A deed to a relative, LLC or trust shortly before a lawsuit, for little or no consideration, is often the first thread. Records are held county by county, so a subject with ties to Broward or Palm Beach is also searched through the Broward Clerk and the Palm Beach Clerk.
Companies, officers and judgment liens
Florida's Division of Corporations, Sunbiz, can be searched by entity name, officer or registered agent, address and other fields, and also covers fictitious names and judgment liens. A judgment lien on a debtor's personal property is created by filing a judgment lien certificate with the Department of State (s. 55.202, F.S.), so other creditors' liens show up there as well.
UCC filings
When a lender takes business equipment, inventory or receivables as collateral, it usually files a financing statement. For most collateral in Florida that filing goes to the Florida Secured Transaction Registry (s. 679.5011, F.S.). The named secured party often points to a bank your attorney can subpoena.
Court records
Lawsuits, judgments, foreclosures, probate files and earlier divorces reveal debts, property and sworn financial statements. Miami-Dade civil, family and probate files are searched through the Clerk's online case search.
Vehicles, vessels and aircraft
Personal information in Florida motor vehicle records is confidential under the federal Driver's Privacy Protection Act and may be released "only as authorized by that act" (s. 119.0712(2)(b), F.S.). A licensed agency may use it only for a purpose the act allows (18 U.S.C. 2721(b)(8)), such as use in connection with a court proceeding (2721(b)(4)). Vessel titles in Florida are applied for through the county tax collector (s. 328.01, F.S.).
Lifestyle evidence
A debtor who pleads hardship but drives a new car to a waterfront home contradicts their own affidavit. Public posts and lawful surveillance can document that gap.
Where are assets usually hidden?
- Property or accounts placed in a relative's, friend's or new partner's name.
- LLCs, trusts or nominee arrangements that separate the subject from the title.
- Cash pulled out gradually, or run through a business the subject controls.
- "Loans" to friends or cash-value life insurance.
- Cryptocurrency and foreign entities, which public records reach only indirectly.
Florida's fraudulent transfer statute lists the warning signs courts weigh, including a transfer to an insider, the debtor keeping control of what was transferred, a transfer made after being sued or threatened with suit, concealment, and value that was not reasonably equivalent (s. 726.105(2), F.S.). A transfer made "with actual intent to hinder, delay, or defraud any creditor" is fraudulent as to that creditor. We organize findings around those factors. For a plain-language walkthrough, read our guide on how to find hidden assets in a divorce or lawsuit.
What a Florida PI can and can't legally do in an asset search
Agencies and investigators are licensed under Chapter 493, Florida Statutes, by the FDACS Division of Licensing. A license opens no bank's files and carries no subpoena power.
What we lawfully do
- Search property, corporate, UCC, lien and court records in every relevant county and state.
- Use licensed investigative databases, and motor vehicle data only for a permissible purpose.
- Identify the banks, lenders and brokers that the records point to, so your attorney knows where to send subpoenas.
What no one may lawfully do
- No bank account searches by pretext. Federal law makes it illegal to obtain a financial institution's customer information by "making a false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation" to the institution, its staff or a customer, or by using forged or stolen documents (15 U.S.C. 6821). The exception the statute writes for private investigators is narrow: collecting court-ordered delinquent child support, where a court has authorized it. Balances, statements and transaction histories come through subpoenas, discovery or proceedings supplementary, never from an investigator.
- No phone records by deception. Florida separately bans obtaining another person's calling records through false statements (s. 817.484, F.S.).
- No hacking. We never log into a subject's email or financial apps.
- No trackers on a subject's car. Placing a tracking device on another person's property without consent is a felony, and private investigators have no general exemption (s. 934.425, F.S.).
For the wider rules, see Florida Statute 493 and what a PI may do.
How does an asset investigation work?
- Consultation. We learn the purpose (divorce, collection, pre-suit or diligence), the subject's known names, addresses, businesses and associates, and any court deadlines.
- Mapping and records sweep. We list every name, address, company and associate, then search property, corporate, UCC, lien, court and permissible-purpose vehicle records wherever the leads point.
- Transfer analysis. Title changes and new entities go on a timeline against key dates: separation, petition, lawsuit or judgment.
- Field and lifestyle work, if needed. Lawful observation can show who really uses a property or business.
- Report and testimony. Findings, sources and, if needed, testimony.
What evidence and reporting will you receive?
- A written report listing each asset, lien, entity and transfer, with the record it came from so it can be verified independently.
- Copies of the underlying documents, and guidance on which ones to obtain as certified copies from the clerk for filing.
- A subpoena roadmap: the banks, lenders and brokers the records point to.
- Testimony, since evidence must be authenticated before it is admitted (s. 90.901, F.S.). Miami-Dade cases are heard in the 11th Judicial Circuit.
We report what the record shows, even when the subject genuinely has little.
What affects the timeline and cost of an asset search?
We quote each matter after the consultation and do not publish a price list. The main factors are:
- Depth. A current-holdings check is narrower than a multi-year transfer investigation.
- The number of names and entities. Each alias, company, trust and associate added means more records to search.
- Geography. Holdings in several Florida counties, other states or abroad take longer to trace.
- Record access. Some older or out-of-state records must be requested by mail or in person.
- Fieldwork. Lifestyle surveillance adds field hours.
- Deliverables and deadlines. Certified copies, a court-ready report, testimony or a short discovery deadline all shape the scope.
Scope is agreed before work begins, and we tell you early if results do not justify going deeper.
Why attorneys and families work with us
- FDACS agency license A1800135
- ★ 4.9 from 88 Google reviews
- Veteran-led team
- Investigators who work in English and Spanish
Spanish-language business names and cross-border companies are routine in Miami asset work. Attorneys from firms such as Morgan & Morgan, Cornish Hernandez Gonzalez, Asilia Law, Goldberg & Rosen and Scheer Legal have recorded video testimonials about working with us. See what attorneys say.
What you tell us stays confidential, as Florida law requires of licensees (s. 493.6118(1)(e), F.S.).
Related services
Where assets get hidden, and when to order a search.
Embezzlement, diverted funds and falsified records.
Vetting a company, partner or deal before you commit.
Research, field work and testimony for litigators.
Lawful documentation when a divorce may follow.
Locating a debtor or witness who has moved on.
Identity, history and court records on a person.
Available across Florida
Asset investigations are run from our office at 4000 Ponce de Leon Blvd, Suite 470, Coral Gables. Records research reaches every Florida county, and field work travels where the case requires.