|
IT USED to be an easy hit for cheated partners everywhere. Just hire a private detective to provide the evidence and a lucrative, and probably well- deserved, divorce would follow.
But Scotland's housing boom is having an unexpected consequence. Although philanderers are still being tracked by suspicious spouses, the evidence is simply being filed away, rather than ending in an acrimonious court case.
Private detectives say there has been a huge increase in so-called 'peace of mind' investigations from wives and partners who believe 'golfing weekends' and 'business meetings' are actually a cover for illicit affairs.
But although the costs may run to thousands of pounds, detectives say many spouses are simply keeping the information rather than face the cost of a divorce settlement. Soaring property prices have made it much more difficult to buy a former partner's share in a house.
Private investigators contacted by Scotland on Sunday say that they conduct as many as 100 peace-of-mind investigations a year, and explain that the phenomenon was rare five years ago and all but unknown in the 1990s.
While some partners have their suspicions confirmed and act on them, others are content to pay the money just to know what their spouses are doing. Some, of course, find their hunches were wrong all along.
Keith Coventry, senior investigator with ISS Security Group Scotland, said peace-of-mind investigations were the "biggest change" he had noticed in his business in recent years.
"Previously you would find a person, usually a wife coming to you to check out a spouse for infidelity, and it would be related to a divorce," Coventry said.
"This would be either a case that was already happening or it would be made clear after you presented the evidence that they would file for divorce."
Coventry, based in West Lothian, added that he and his firm receive up to 150 enquiries a year, with about two-thirds leading to an investigation.
Instructions are received from people of all ages and from all professions, but the vast majority originate from women wanting to find out whether their husbands are cheating.
He added: "People explain that they just want to know what is going on but they don't want to divorce, often because of what it's going to cost them to part.
"People react in different ways. Often they want a picture of the paramour and might compare themselves to 'the opposition'. Most react quite calmly, saying that at least they now know."
A typical investigation can cost as much as £1,000 a day and involve observing the target for up to three days when the suspect is away for a weekend or a business meeting.
Stuart Roberts, who runs Edinburgh-based Stuart Roberts Investigations, said he was dealing with around two peace-of-mind investigations every week.
"You get them from all walks of life, although not everyone can afford the costs of a private investigator. You have wives checking out businessmen husbands going on a weekend.
"They might be checking out whether partners saying they are going to Edinburgh, Glasgow or London for a business meeting really are doing what they say."
Cliff Atkinson, of Nor-West Caledonian Legal Agency in Glasgow, said more customers than ever before wanted peace-of-mind investigations.
"We find a lot of wives coming to us wanting to check out businessman husbands. Women are very much in the majority for this," he said.
"It might be sparked off by an odd message on the husband's mobile and then they come to us. Often you find that the worries come to nothing, but at least they have the peace of mind."
One typical investigation involved a BMW-driving Borders businessman, with estimated assets of over £1m, who was cheating on his wife with a woman he arranged to meet in a country hotel.
Another check involved a West of Scotland property developer who frequently travelled to Edinburgh and made overnight stays in the capital to attend business meetings. The developer's spouse feared that he was cheating on her with a business colleague.
Divorce rates are going down. In Scotland, the latest figures show that the number of couples getting divorced is falling over the long term. Last year, the number declined by 2.6% compared with 2004 - to 10,940 - and has fallen 17% compared with a decade ago.
While some of that decrease is due to fewer people getting married, the rising price of housing means that divorce is an expensive option.
In the past seven years, typical prices north of the Border have doubled, from £63,792 in 1999 to £130,681 today.
Margaret Smillie, of Glasgow firm Bannatyne Kirkwood France and Co, said: "The legal costs of divorce have actually gone down in recent years, so that's not an issue. What is making divorce more expensive is the rise in property prices.
"A few years ago, a client could buy out their ex's share of a house for less than £10,000. Now you might be talking about as much as 10 times that.
"You hear about the seven-year itch but think how much house prices have gone up in the past seven years. Even if you are the party getting the share of being bought out, say £50,000, it might not go very far.
It's effectively starting out again."
| 
