Investigative strategy · Practical guide
Five questions to ask before commissioning an investigation
Before commissioning an investigation, define the decision it should support, the known facts, the relevant countries, the deadline and the evidence you need. A focused brief helps the team design a proportionate enquiry and explain its limits before work begins.
1. What decision will the findings support?
State the practical question: whether to proceed with a relationship, clarify an estate connection, test an allegation or explore an asset lead. A defined decision makes it easier to prioritise research and avoid collecting information with little relevance.
2. What is known, and what is assumed?
Separate documents and confirmed identifiers from recollections, allegations and hypotheses. Provide the source of important information and flag uncertainty. The investigation can then test the gaps rather than starting from an unexamined conclusion.
3. Which jurisdictions and sources matter?
Identify relevant countries, languages and locations. Access to records and permissible methods vary. The team should explain the proposed sources, local dependencies and lawful scope of the work.
4. What deadline and reporting format are useful?
Explain why the deadline matters and whether an interim update would support the decision. Agree the format, intended audience and level of source detail. Urgency does not remove the need to identify limitations.
5. What will count as a useful result?
Agree the questions the report must answer and how uncertainty should be handled. Ask how the team will distinguish verified facts from assessment, report gaps and discuss changes of scope.
Start with a concise enquiry containing the essential context. Arrange suitable handling of confidential records with the team before sending a large document collection.