a) Certain personal records are considered vital records and should be maintained as permanent records in a safe dry, fireproof place: examples being your birth certificate, marriage license, court records related to legal adoption, divorce or legal separation, and death certificates of family members, military discharge papers, social security cards, etc.
b) Other important documents should be maintained for as long as they are considered valid and applicable- examples being insurance policies of all kinds, motor vehicle titles, bank account origination which typically contain full account names and account numbers, entity creation documents (Articles of Organization, Bylaws, Operating Agreements, Partnership Agreements, IRS Letters issuing tax id numbers and approving or acknowledging applicable tax elections, stock certificates, corporate minutes or member consents for LLCs); estate planning documents including current wills and durable powers of attorney, and trust documents (with and and all amendments).
c) Income Tax Returns should be maintained for at least 10 years, but 20 years would be advised. This refers to the actual tax returns as filed and not necessarily all of the supporting data used to prepare them - the IRS keeps tax returns for only 10 years. You need to be able to prove that you filed an income tax return since the statute of limitations for failure to file a return never starts to run if you do not file a return. Maintain the supporting documentation for tax returns that you filed in the past seven years - this applies to business and personal tax returns.
d) Gift Tax Returns and Gift supporting documents such as Crummeny Withdrawal Notices issued to trust beneficiaries for gifts made via trusts should be maintained as permanent records.
