What a Private Investigator Can (and Can't) Legally Do in a Florida Infidelity Case

Infidelity cases usually go wrong in one of two ways: a suspicious spouse takes a shortcut that turns out to be a crime, or hires a "specialist" who offers that shortcut. Below, each common tactic gets two answers: can a licensed investigator do it, and can you? For licensing in general, see our Florida Statute 493 guide; for how we run these cases, see our infidelity investigation service.

Scenario table: who can do what

"Legal for you" assumes you act on your own, without a court order. Each row is a summary; the sections below explain the limits.

Following your spouse in public

Chapter 493 defines private investigation to include gathering information on a person's "habits, conduct, movements, whereabouts" (s. 493.6101). Watching someone in places open to the public is the core of that work.

It is not unregulated. Willfully, maliciously and repeatedly following or harassing someone is stalking, a first-degree misdemeanor, and a third-degree felony with a credible threat (s. 784.048). Harassment is defined as conduct that "serves no legitimate purpose." No statute carves investigators out, so the protection is the method: planned, documented surveillance for a legal matter, not repeated tailing.

Photographing in public places

Photos and silent video of what anyone could see from a street, restaurant or parking lot are the backbone of lawful infidelity evidence. The line is audio: Florida protects an "oral communication" spoken by someone who reasonably expects it is not being intercepted (s. 934.02).

Recording calls or conversations

Florida requires the prior consent of every party before a wire, oral or electronic communication is intercepted; doing it anyway is a third-degree felony (s. 934.03). That covers a recorder under a car seat, a call-recording app on a spouse's phone, and a phone left recording in the bedroom.

The statute also reaches anyone who "procures any other person to intercept," so hiring someone to record does not shield you. And an unlawful recording, plus anything derived from it, cannot be received in evidence (s. 934.06).

Putting a GPS tracker on a spouse's car

Section 934.425 makes it a third-degree felony to knowingly place a tracking device or app on another person's property, or use one to follow them, without consent. The answer turns on whose car it is and where the marriage stands:

• A car titled only to you. The statute exempts an "owner or lessee of a motor vehicle" during the ownership or lease, if the device comes off before title transfers or the lease ends. Whether that covers a car your spouse drives every day is fact-specific and your lawyer's call.
• A jointly owned car. The statute does not spell out how the owner exception works when the person tracked is also an owner. Ask your attorney; do not treat it as a green light.
• Your spouse's own car. Without your spouse's consent, this is exactly what the statute prohibits.
• After a divorce is filed. Consent is presumed revoked once a married person files for dissolution, or either person files for an injunction for protection.

Investigators get no general exception. Section 934.425(4)(g) says the exemption "does not apply to a person engaged in private investigation" for another "unless such activities would otherwise be exempt" if the client did them. A licensee who places a device illegally also faces discipline under s. 493.6118(1)(y). Business and parental tracking are covered in our GPS tracker article.

Reading a spouse's phone or email, or installing spyware

Software that captures a spouse's calls, texts or messages can be an interception of electronic communications under s. 934.03, a felony. Accessing another person's online accounts without permission is part of Florida's definition of cyberstalking, when it causes substantial emotional distress and serves no legitimate purpose (s. 784.048).

We do not hack, copy or monitor a phone or account your spouse controls. A device that belongs to you, or a family computer you share, is more nuanced: ownership, passwords and intended use all matter. Ask your attorney before you look, and do not assume anything you find is usable.

Getting phone or bank records by pretext

Posing as the account holder to a carrier or bank is illegal whoever does it. Florida prohibits obtaining another person's calling records without permission through false or fraudulent statements (s. 817.484). Federal law does the same for phone records (18 U.S.C. §1039, up to 10 years in prison) and bank customer information (15 U.S.C. §6821), whose only PI exception is court-authorized collection of delinquent child support. Financial records normally surface through the divorce case, with your attorney.

Entering private property, hotel rooms and garages

Entering or remaining in a structure or conveyance without authorization, whether a hotel room, garage, home or car, is trespass (s. 810.08). So is going onto other property after notice by posting, fencing or warning (s. 810.09). An investigator can document who arrives at a hotel and when; the door is the limit. Entering a home or car you share depends on your rights to it; ask your lawyer.

Public records, social media and dating profiles

Court, property and business records, and anything posted publicly, are fair game for you and an investigator. Our social media investigations work only from what is publicly visible.

Background research on the affair partner

Identifying the other person and checking public records for marital status, criminal history or aliases is the "identity" and "character" work Chapter 493 describes. See our background investigations.

DMV records and the DPPA

The federal Driver's Privacy Protection Act bars motor-vehicle agencies from releasing personal information except for listed purposes (18 U.S.C. §2721), such as use in a court proceeding. Licensed investigative agencies may use records only "for any purpose permitted under this subsection," so a PI gets no broader access than the underlying purpose. Florida applies the same limits (s. 119.0712). Running a plate to find where an affair partner lives, with no permissible purpose, does not qualify.

Hidden cameras: video versus audio

Most consumer cameras record sound, and a hidden camera that captures private conversations is an interception under s. 934.03, whoever installs it. Chapter 934 is about communications, so silent video raises different questions, but that does not make it safe. Never place a camera in a bathroom, bedroom or anywhere a person undresses or expects privacy; the criminal exposure there goes beyond the statutes on this page. Entering a home without authorization to plant one is also trespass under s. 810.08.

What evidence holds up in a Florida divorce

Lawfully gathered surveillance is treated like any other evidence under the Florida Evidence Code. It must be relevant (s. 90.401, s. 90.402), not unfairly prejudicial (s. 90.403), and authenticated, meaning there is evidence the photo or video is what it claims to be (s. 90.901). In practice, the investigator who filmed it testifies to when, where and how.

A spouse's own words can come in as a party admission (s. 90.803(18)(a)); other out-of-court statements face the hearsay rule (s. 90.802). Illegally intercepted conversations are excluded outright (s. 934.06). For other improperly obtained material the judge decides, and the method can become the story. See our guide to surveillance evidence in a divorce.

How adultery actually matters in a Florida divorce

• It is not a ground for divorce. Florida dissolves a marriage only when it is irretrievably broken or for adjudicated mental incapacity (s. 61.052).
• It can affect alimony. The court may weigh adultery and its economic impact in deciding how much alimony, if any, to award (s. 61.08). The 2023 reform, CS/SB 1416 (effective July 1, 2023), ended permanent alimony; durational awards are now capped by the length of the marriage.
• It bears on time-sharing only indirectly. Florida presumes equal time-sharing is best for the child, and the presumption is rebuttable (s. 61.13). An affair alone does not rebut it; evidence matters when it speaks to factors like moral fitness, mental and physical health, domestic violence or a substance-free home. See our child custody investigations.
• Money spent on the affair can count. Intentional dissipation of marital assets after filing, or within two years before, can justify an unequal division (s. 61.075).

Red flags when hiring an investigator

Hiring someone to break the law puts you at risk too: s. 934.03 covers anyone who procures an interception, and a licensee who knowingly assists a statutory violation can be disciplined under s. 493.6118. Be cautious if an investigator:

• offers to put a GPS tracker on your spouse's car, or says a PI license makes tracking legal;
• offers "phone forensics," spyware or access to a phone or account your spouse controls;
• promises call logs, texts or bank statements without going through your attorney;
• suggests audio recording of your spouse or the other person;
• cannot give you a license number, which Florida agencies must print in their advertising (s. 493.6111).

Verify any agency on the FDACS agency license search and any investigator on the FDACS individual search. Complaints go to the FDACS Division of Licensing.

Related: infidelity investigations · Florida Statute 493 explained · GPS trackers and Florida law · surveillance evidence in divorce · child custody investigations · Florida private investigator