Unmarried Partner Infidelity Investigations in Mississippi

01Where the law stands

Mississippi Abolished Common-Law Marriage, and That Shapes Everything

Couples who have lived together for years are sometimes surprised to learn they have none of the legal protections of marriage. According to Mississippi family-law commentary, the Legislature abolished common-law marriage in 1956, and Miss. Code Ann. § 93-1-15(1) is the provision usually cited. There is no divorce to file, no chancellor dividing property under the Ferguson factors and no alimony at the end of a cohabiting relationship. Our overview of investigations in Mississippi explains how Delator works across the state. Our legal limits guide for Mississippi covers what an investigator can lawfully document in that setting.

The courts have been consistent. In Davis v. Davis (Miss. 1994), the Mississippi Supreme Court refused to give a long-term cohabitant equitable distribution of property her partner acquired, saying the question belonged to the Legislature. Later appellate decisions reportedly rejected unjust-enrichment awards based on cohabitation alone. An express written agreement can still be enforced, and fraud may support relief, so the facts of how money moved can still matter. If an attorney is already involved, our attorney services in Mississippi page explains how we support counsel.

02Real reasons

Why Unmarried Partners Still Need Clear Answers

Without a divorce case to win, the question becomes practical. Is it safe to keep sharing a home, a lease or a car? Should the engagement go forward? Is a partner's second relationship exposing you to health risks or financial loss? These are serious decisions, and many people would rather make them on facts than on suspicion. We start every case by asking what you will do with the answer, because that decides how many shifts make sense.

Most assignments are short. Two or three shifts timed to the evenings or weekends that worry you will usually show whether a partner's account holds up. If the person they are meeting is unknown, we can identify them lawfully with a $102 basic check or a $300 deep-dive through our dating and relationship background checks. If the concern is a partner met online who may not be who they claim, our scam investigations in Mississippi look at identity and money together, and our Lafayette County investigators handle many cases around Oxford.

03Alimony payers

When an Ex-Spouse Receiving Alimony Moves In With Someone

One of the most common unmarried-partner cases involves a former spouse. Mississippi decisions have moved away from treating a divorced recipient's new relationship as a moral question and toward its financial effect. Commentary on Hammonds v. Hammonds (1994) and Scharwath v. Scharwath (1997) describes the rule: proof of cohabitation creates a presumption of a material change in circumstances, and the recipient must then produce evidence against mutual financial support. Cohabitation alone does not end alimony automatically, as Ellis v. Ellis (1995) made clear.

That makes the evidence specific. Chancellors want to know whether the new partner stays overnight on a regular basis, whose vehicles are in the driveway each morning, who pays for groceries and outings, and whether mail or deliveries arrive in the partner's name. We document those patterns over weeks rather than a single night, because one sleepover proves little. Our Harrison County investigators handle many of these files on the Coast. The finished record is prepared for your attorney to use in a modification action, and our Mississippi investigative consulting team can help counsel decide how much proof is enough.

• Overnight stays logged across several weeks
• Vehicles present at the residence early and late
• Shared errands, outings and household spending seen in public
• Deliveries or mail addressed to the new partner
• Signs the partner contributes to household costs

04Children

Unmarried Parents, Paternity and Custody Evidence

When unmarried parents separate, custody is decided in chancery court like any other custody case, usually after paternity is established. Paternity and child custody are among the matters that now proceed on the special summons in M.R.C.P. 4(i), which moved there from former Rule 81(d) on July 1, 2026. Chancellors look at the Albright factors, including stability of the home, parenting skills and moral fitness. How the 2026 joint-custody presumption under HB 1662 applies to a particular unmarried-parent case is a question for your lawyer.

A new partner in the other parent's life is not by itself a reason to change custody. What can matter is how that person behaves around the child, whether supervision slips and whether the child's routine is disrupted. We document exchanges, school pickups and weekend visitation from public places and keep children out of photographs wherever we can. Our custody investigations guide explains what a chancellor tends to weigh, and our Forrest County investigators work custody files around Hattiesburg.

05Shared money

Leases, Vehicles and Bank Cards Held Together

Unmarried couples often share more than they realize: a lease signed by both, a truck titled to one and paid for by the other, a joint account or a card one partner carries. Because Mississippi courts generally refuse to divide property based on cohabitation, the paperwork and any express agreement carry the weight. If you believe a partner has been spending shared money on someone else, documenting the pattern now can help an attorney evaluate whether fraud, a written agreement or ordinary contract law gives you a claim.

Our asset investigations across Mississippi look at what can be found lawfully in public records, such as titles, liens and business filings, and pair that with surveillance where spending happens in public. We do not access bank accounts, phones or email without lawful authority. When a partner moves out and leaves debts behind, our debtor skip tracing team can locate them, and a lawsuit can then be served through our Mississippi process serving division.

06Stay on the right side

Recording, Tracking and Harassment Rules Between Partners

Relationships without a marriage license are covered by the same criminal laws. Mississippi generally allows a participant to record their own conversation under Miss. Code Ann. § 41-29-531(e), but intercepting a partner's calls with someone else is not protected. The cyberstalking statute, § 97-45-15, makes repeated electronic communications meant to harass a felony, and the stalking statute, § 97-3-107, covers a course of conduct such as following someone. Our Mississippi recording law guide explains the one-party consent rule in more detail.

Covert GPS tracking deserves a specific warning. Mississippi has no statute written for private trackers, yet tracking a partner's car can support a stalking or invasion-of-privacy claim, and federal law may apply if the conduct crosses state lines. Delator will not put a device on any vehicle a client lacks the right to track. If you are the one being followed or monitored, our stalking investigations can help document it, and protective orders can be sought in municipal, justice, county or chancery court under § 93-21-7, as the statute describes.

07Choosing a firm

Vetting the Investigator and Understanding the Price

Mississippi does not license private investigators at the state level, although a city or county business privilege license may apply. Anyone can advertise, so ask for insurance, a written scope and a sample report before you hire. Delator Group is a licensed Tennessee private investigation firm with its headquarters in Nashville, and it brings that standard to every Mississippi case. Our checklist for hiring without a state license covers the questions worth asking.

Surveillance is billed at $100 per hour with mileage disclosed before any shift. Alimony cohabitation cases usually need several shorter shifts spread across weeks, while a fiancé or live-in partner question is often answered in two or three evenings. Every addition is approved by you first. Prices are listed on our service pricing page for Mississippi, and our cost guide for Mississippi investigations explains how estimates are built.

Services

Unmarried Partner Investigation Services in Mississippi

• Live-in partner surveillanceEvening and weekend coverage that tests whether a partner's time away from home matches what they say, logged with times and photographs.Learn more
• Fiancé verificationRecords research and limited surveillance before a wedding, confirming identity, prior marriages of record and whether another relationship is ongoing.Learn more
• Alimony cohabitation documentationMulti-week records of overnight stays, vehicles and shared living, prepared for an attorney seeking to modify or terminate support in chancery.Learn more
• Co-parent visitation recordsDocumentation of exchanges, supervision and who is present during the other parent's time, with children kept out of photographs where possible.Learn more
• Shared-money tracingPublic-records research on titles, liens and filings, paired with observation of spending, when shared funds may be going to someone else.Learn more
• Online relationship checksIdentity and history verification for a partner met online, including signs of another household or a pattern of requests for money.Learn more
• Hotel and motel coverageArrival and departure documentation at hotels and motels from public areas, showing who arrived together, which vehicles they used and how long they stayed.Learn more
• Former partner locatesFinding a partner who moved out owing money or property, so counsel can file and have the defendant served without delay.Learn more
• Papers delivered and provenService of a paternity, custody or civil complaint through Delator Field Services, with logged attempts and a signed affidavit of service.Learn more

How it works

How an Unmarried Partner Case Works

1. 01

   Private first call

   You tell us what you have seen, the partner's routine and what decision depends on the answer. We tell you plainly whether surveillance is likely to help.

2. 02

   Written scope

   We set the number of shifts, the times and any records research, then confirm the hours, mileage and total price in writing before assigning anyone.

3. 03

   Discreet observation

   Investigators document conduct from public places, rotate vehicles on residential streets, leave any property when asked and send updates only through the contact method you approve.

4. 04

   Usable report

   You receive a dated narrative and photographs, written so you can make a decision or hand it to an attorney for a custody or alimony filing.

Compare

Typical Unmarried Partner Assignments in Mississippi

Statewide coverage

Relationship Investigations Across Mississippi

We take unmarried-partner cases throughout the state. Starkville-area files are handled by our Oktibbeha County investigators, and Pine Belt cohabitation cases near Purvis go to our Lamar County team. On the eastern Coast, our Jackson County investigators cover Pascagoula and surrounding communities, while Meridian files are assigned through our Lauderdale County investigations. Smaller towns, where a parked car is noticed quickly, are worked with rotating vehicles. Rural assignments are scheduled as separate trips, travel is quoted before work starts, and every report follows the same format.

• Lafayette County
• Oktibbeha County
• Forrest County
• Lamar County
• Jackson County
• Lauderdale County
• All of Mississippi

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Every service

Investigations available in Mississippi

Every service below is available in Mississippi and across Mississippi, run by the same Delator Group leadership that manages our Tennessee casework. Choose a service to read how it works in Mississippi.

Service areas

Private investigators across Mississippi