An asset search cost typically falls between $100 and $500 for a basic public-records review, $500 to $2,000 for a comprehensive investigation that reaches into bank accounts and hidden holdings, and well into five figures when forensic accountants have to unwind shell companies, offshore structures, or cryptocurrency. What you actually pay depends on how deep the search goes, how many entities are involved, and whether the person being investigated is actively hiding money.
What You Can Find for Free First
Before paying anyone, check what’s already public. County recorder offices maintain online databases of real estate deeds, liens, and mortgage records at no cost. Secretary of State websites let you search corporate registrations and LLC filings for free. Federal bankruptcy records are searchable through PACER, and formal record requests through the courts run $34 per name searched. UCC lien filings, which show whether someone has pledged personal property as collateral, typically cost $30 to $60 per search through a Secretary of State’s office.
DIY searches work when the subject owns property openly and hasn’t taken steps to conceal anything. You can piece together a rough picture from real estate records, vehicle registrations, and business filings on your own. What you won’t find this way is liquid wealth: bank balances, brokerage accounts, retirement holdings. That’s where paid help starts to matter.
Basic Professional Search: $100 to $500
A basic professional search runs $100 to $500 and aggregates public records more efficiently than you can on your own. Investigators use commercial databases that pull records from multiple counties and states at once. Coverage at this level typically includes real estate holdings, vehicle and watercraft registrations, business interests, judgment and lien history, and bankruptcy filings.
This level makes sense when the money at stake is modest or you have no reason to suspect concealment. You get a snapshot of visible wealth, which is often enough to decide whether pursuing legal action is worth the fees involved.
Comprehensive Search: $500 to $2,000
When you need liquid assets or suspect someone is moving money, a comprehensive search costs $500 to $2,000. Investigators go beyond public filings to locate bank accounts, brokerage portfolios, and life insurance policies with cash value. The work involves broader database access, more cross-referencing, and more analyst time.
This tier fits judgments above six figures, divorcing spouses who may be shifting funds, or business partners suspected of siphoning. The goal is to find where money actually sits, not just what appears on paper.
Forensic Accounting and Cryptocurrency Tracing
When assets are deliberately hidden through shell companies, nominee ownership, or offshore accounts, a standard search won’t get there. Forensic accountants and Certified Fraud Examiners trace money through layered corporate structures and reconstruct financial statements. They typically bill $200 to $500 per hour depending on complexity and credentials.
Cryptocurrency adds another layer. Blockchain analysis is a niche specialty; firms that do it charge hourly rates starting around $200 or take a percentage of recovered assets, often 15% to 30%. A case with multiple wallets across different blockchains can generate tens of thousands in analysis fees before anything reaches court.
Total forensic bills depend on how tangled the finances are. Reconstructing a few years of transactions for a single business might cost $5,000 to $15,000. A case involving multiple entities across jurisdictions, fabricated records, and offshore structures can easily exceed $50,000. Costs like these are justified when the amount at stake warrants them and when the resulting report has to hold up as evidence.
Private Investigator Hourly Rates
Investigators bill asset work two ways. Straightforward public-records searches usually come as flat-fee packages so you know the price upfront. When the job involves fieldwork, interviews, or chasing someone who is actively concealing wealth, PIs shift to hourly billing.
Rates vary by market and experience:
- Rural areas and smaller cities: $75 to $125 per hour
- Mid-size markets: $100 to $150 per hour
- Major metros like New York or Los Angeles: $125 to $200 or higher
- Digital forensics and other technical specialties: $175 to $300 per hour
Most investigators require a retainer before starting, typically covering the first ten to twenty hours. Geography matters beyond the local rate too. Searching records in multiple states, appearing in court, or running nationwide database queries adds travel time and access fees on top of the base rate.
What Drives the Bill Up
The biggest cost multiplier is the number of entities involved. Investigating one person with assets in their own name is straightforward. Tracing wealth through multiple LLCs, trusts, and corporate layers requires exponentially more work, with each entity meaning more database searches, more records requests, and more analysis.
Geographic scope is the next driver. A single-county search costs far less than a nationwide investigation, and international searches sit at the top of the range. Accessing financial information in jurisdictions with strong bank secrecy laws means hiring local experts who know the regulatory terrain. Cross-border work routinely doubles or triples domestic rates.
Time depth matters too. Tracing transfers back a decade or more to uncover fraudulent conveyances takes significantly more labor, and historical records may require manual searches of archived documents rather than quick database queries.
Court Discovery Costs During Litigation
If you’re already suing someone or have won a judgment, the court system offers its own tools, each with its own price tag.
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 69 lets a judgment creditor use the full range of discovery tools to locate a debtor’s assets after winning. You can subpoena bank records, demand document production, and depose the debtor about their finances. The rule incorporates the discovery procedures of the state where the court sits, so specific mechanics vary by jurisdiction.1Cornell Law Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 69 – Execution
Subpoenas to financial institutions carry witness and service fees that vary by court. Depositions add up fast: court reporters charge $4.50 to $7.00 per page for transcripts plus an appearance fee of $150 to $400, and a typical transcript runs 100 to 300 pages. A single deposition session can cost $600 to $2,500 once you factor in the transcript, appearance fee, and any expedited delivery. Your attorney’s time drafting subpoenas, preparing for depositions, and reviewing what comes back is billed at their standard hourly rate on top of all this.
Post-judgment debtor examinations are cheaper. These proceedings force the debtor to appear and answer questions under oath about income, accounts, and property. Filing fees are typically modest, though exact amounts vary by jurisdiction. If the debtor fails to appear, the court can issue a bench warrant, which makes this one of the more powerful tools available to creditors.
Legal Limits That Affect What You’re Really Buying
Not everything is fair game, and the cheapest investigator promising bank records without a subpoena is either lying about what they’ll deliver or breaking the law.
The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act makes it a federal violation to obtain someone’s financial records from a bank or other financial institution using false pretenses. That includes posing as the account holder, submitting fraudulent documents, or hiring someone you know will use deceptive methods.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 6821 – Privacy Protection for Customer Information of Financial Institutions The prohibition applies to anyone, not just investigators.
Motor vehicle records are governed by the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act, which restricts who can access registration and ownership data. Licensed private investigators can access these records for purposes permitted under the statute, and the law specifically allows use in connection with civil or criminal proceedings, including investigation in anticipation of litigation and enforcement of judgments.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 2721 – Prohibition on Release and Use of Certain Personal Information From State Motor Vehicle Records A random person without a qualifying purpose cannot legally pull someone’s vehicle records out of curiosity.
The Right to Financial Privacy Act restricts government access to your bank records without proper legal process such as a subpoena, search warrant, or the customer’s written consent.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 12 USC 3402 – Access to Financial Records by Government Authorities Prohibited; Exceptions It applies specifically to government access, but it reinforces the broader principle: bank records require legal authority to obtain, whether through voluntary disclosure, court order, or discovery in pending litigation.
Legitimate asset searches rely on public records, authorized database access, and court-supervised discovery. Any service promising private bank balances or financial records outside those channels is either overpromising or operating outside the law. The cost of an asset search done wrong extends well beyond the investigator’s fee.