The Importance of Paperwork on a Paranormal Investigation

"This will only take a moment of our time. We need to have these forms filled out before we can proceed. Here, let me explain what each one is…"

Those sentences can save your group from many possible future hassles; from lawsuits to being arrested, none of which are particularly pleasant. The funny thing is that not all groups feel they need to have the paperwork, and perhaps they have been lucky thus far, but eventually they will encounter a client who changes his or her mind after the adrenaline rush of the investigation wears off. Seasoned groups can tell you just how important the paperwork is and share some horror stories of how, without the paperwork, they might have lost not only the case but their groups respect and good name as well.

One reason that groups do not have paperwork is that they think it will make for an uncomfortable position with their clients. Another reason a group might avoid all of the paperwork would be because they aren't sure how to go about making up the proper forms. Yet another reason that I have encountered is because a group did not feel the paperwork would hold any significance and would be a waste of time.

For each concern of why they don't have paperwork there are at least two reasons why they should. If you think that an uncomfortable position could arise asking for your clients to sign some papers then you might want to practice with a member of your group before hand. Make sure the member you practice with is as difficult as possible as you may need to have an arsenal of answers at the ready for why the paperwork needs to be signed. Asking for a client to sign some paperwork that is presented to them in a professional manner will also help your clients see that your group is indeed serious. That is not mentioning the fact that the privacy guarantee is included (or should be) and this tends to put a lot of clients in the frame of mind to sign.

If your group does not have someone who has a knack with words there are many sites on the Web who have their documents (or samples of documents) on their sites so that others can print and use them. Remember, the documents do not have to be anything super fancy or in legal-speak. In fact, too much legal speak might work against your efforts of getting clients to sign. Professional wording is all that is really required along with a space for date, clients' signature, group leader signature and a witness. All should be signed at the same time in the presence of one another and copies should be available for the client. Another tip that I learned from a friend is to take a picture of the signing with the client clearly visible.

As for the paperwork being a waste of time and holding no significance, neither holds much water. The documents take maybe a few hours at most to write up and print out. Keep a disk copy of them so that they can always be easily tweaked and printed. On the significance rating the paperwork easily scores a ten out of ten. Not only will you have written what you can and can not do with the material you collect (be sure you follow what you have agreed to or the documents will not help you), you also have the clients signature stating that they were fully aware at the time of what was going on and what would happen to anything you collected. The vast majority of court systems would agree that because they signed it (actual legal document or not) they agreed to the terms. One benefit specifically about having a client's signature on a permission to investigate form is that if the client is not there when your group is, a police officer can be shown that you have permission to be on the premise (in this case be sure to include a contact phone number for the client as well).

Paperwork has far more benefits than the alternative. Worst-case scenarios abound and some are quite creative. Record, write down and organize all parts of your investigations. Filing them away in neat and tidy order only improves your group's case of being professional and serious about their research. Not to mention that having signed permission to do your investigations feels really good.