my sister says all check stubs, cancelled checks, bank statements, etc. should be kept 7 years in case of an IRS audit for a deceased person. The banks involved and the Social Security Administration told me all papers were officially trash as of the date of death except those papers and records needed to file the 2009 tax return.
Sis is right and the things said by the bank and SSA border on negligence! I would save at least the last three years plus the final one and estate tax return if filed or needed for 5 years or so.
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Sis is right and the things said by the bank and SSA border on negligence! I would save at least the last three years plus the final one and estate tax return if filed or needed for 5 years or so.
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Stick with your sister’s recommendation.
Some items have no expiration if the tax issue lives on after the person’s death.
(I still have all of my father’s tax records going back to 1950! He died in 1994. While I may never need them for anything with the IRS any more, they do provide some interesting insight into the family history.)
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There is no "official" number of years that you are required to keep records with a few exceptions for state laws regarding "business records" which is seven years in my state. I however advise all my clients to keep everything personal until three years after the date of their death. What those long term records might contain would depend on the individual circumstances. For example a person with only Social Security income would need very sparse records but a person with a complex stock portfolio and small business might have extensive records. I had a case a couple of years ago in which I needed records for a individual that had been dead for fifteen years.
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