Custody Investigations (Case Example)

The private detectives of Kurtz Investigations Wuppertal conduct investigations in disputes and suspected issues regarding custody and child care: +49 202 5289 0063.

The following is a case report on this topic, which is interesting both due to the unusual nature of the problem and as an illustrative example of our work:

Child’s Choice of Religion: Parents Decide

The decision regarding the religiosity and denomination of minors, according to a ruling by the Higher Regional Court of Oldenburg (Order of 09.02.2010, 13 UF 8/10), does not lie with the court or the child – it rests with the parents, or with the parent who is the primary caregiver in cases of separated households. In the following case from Kurtz Investigations Wuppertal, such a primary caregiver could not be determined, as both parents share custody equally, and the child (aged 12) alternates two weeks in the father’s residence and two weeks in the mother’s home.

Mr Hilden, the child’s father and client of our private detectives in Wuppertal, believes that his daughter should be able to decide for herself whether she wants to join a religious community, and if so, which one. He is personally non-religious, whereas his ex-wife is a devoted member of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. His suspicion: against his will, the mother regularly “takes” the child to Jehovah’s Witnesses’ events to pressure her into this faith early and integrate her firmly into the community. Our detectives in the Bergisches Land were tasked with investigating this suspicion and, if necessary, obtaining court-admissible evidence of this religious coercion.

Surveillance at the "Königreichssaal"

Before the surveillance began, one of our investigators examined the assembly building of the religious group. The property is camera-monitored. From the street, at the time of inspection, the main entrance and the assembly hall were clearly visible. Whether this would also be possible during a Jehovah’s Witnesses meeting remained to be seen.

Mr Hilden requested that the monitoring of mother and daughter take place directly on-site at a known assembly time. Our Wuppertal private detectives therefore did not start from the residence but from the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ target location. Indeed, the mother arrived early and integrated herself into the 40–50-strong group of believers. Mr Hilden’s daughter, however, was not with her and did not enter the hall at any later point. The operations management of Kurtz Investigations Wuppertal informed Mr Hilden of the result. He was to report back in about two weeks, when the next surveillance would take place. A prior check would have been pointless, as the daughter would be with him the day after tomorrow.

Concealed Income? Secondary Investigation

Mr Hilden contacted our detectives not after two weeks but on the same day he collected his daughter from the mother. The child was ill – for several days. This, he explained, accounted for her absence from the event. The client of Kurtz Detective Agency Wuppertal was very optimistic that “something would emerge” at the next observation. Until then, our corporate detectives were instructed to carry out an employer investigation on his ex-wife, as he also suspected her of maintenance fraud in addition to the religious issue. This suspicion was not confirmed in the minor scope of this secondary assignment, as the subject indeed worked for the company she had reported to Mr Hilden and the court.

Worship Service and Evangelisation – Child Participates

When Mr Hilden’s daughter was again with the mother and another meeting at the Kingdom Hall was scheduled, our Wuppertal private detectives once more conducted a surveillance of the assembly location. This time, the ex-wife arrived with her recovered daughter, who appeared embarrassed and somewhat out of place. During the entire 105 minutes of preaching, singing, and discussion, the child patiently remained seated in the front row and endured it all. After the event, the mother and daughter left on foot with an unknown male, while the vehicle they had arrived in remained in the car park. Our private investigators from Wuppertal followed – also on foot – and observed the trio’s further activities. Clearly, they were performing preaching duties, going from house to house with brochures, trying to engage residents in conversation. Most addressed individuals terminated the discussion immediately, while others at least listened. After four hours of door-to-door evangelism, mother and daughter parted from their companion and returned home.

Kurtz Investigations Wuppertal informed Mr Hilden of the observation results. “I knew it!” he exclaimed into his phone. “Do you know what I’m going to do now? I’ll call my ex and ask what they did today. Bet she won’t tell me the truth!” Shortly afterwards, our detective office in Barmen rang again: “She went to the cinema today! She lies whenever it suits her! Not very Christian, is it?” Mr Hilden commissioned further observations by our Wuppertal private detectives for the three upcoming Jehovah’s Witnesses’ meetings during the two weeks the daughter stays with the mother. Each time, the child participates, and after one of the events, there is additional preaching activity (“door-to-door”).

Angry Speech of a Concerned Father at the Detective Office

When Mr Hilden received the final investigation report, he hurried to his car to confront his ex-wife and threaten legal action if she continued coercing the child to attend religious events. The next day, he returned to the office of Kurtz Investigations Wuppertal, recounted the previous day’s dispute with the mother in detail, and explained the background of our assignment:

“There was an enormous commotion. How dare you put a detective on my back?! And so on … I said: Listen, you’re taking me for a fool here and then wonder why I take action?! Am I crazy, or what? This ends now, otherwise I’ll send the lawyers after you and then you’ll get an injunction! Capiche? Eventually, she gave in because she knows she has no right to force our daughter against her will!”

“Is it against the daughter’s will?” asked one of our detectives, who was present in the office but not involved in the case.

“Absolutely! I’ve spoken to her about it many times. She feels uncomfortable there, and going from house to house is extremely embarrassing for her. On the other hand, she doesn’t want to disappoint her mother and tells me nothing, because my ex demands she keep quiet. She wasn’t like that before – otherwise I wouldn’t have married her. Back then she always criticised her parents, who pushed her in this direction, but now she’s just as fanatical. Really: I don’t want my daughter exposed to religious nonsense, idiocy, and end-of-world propaganda. If she chooses such a path, it must be her free choice, not because she was pressured at a young age. She should get a proper education and become a reasonable person, not waste her time on Bible interpretations. Do you know what it means to be a Jehovah’s Witness? Many reject university studies because they consider it morally corrupt or for other idiotic reasons! My ex was the same: her parents – my daughter’s grandparents – denied her the opportunity to study. And what did she become? Now she’s going door to door like a beggar, annoying people with her babble. That’s not what I want for my daughter!”