Please point me to a better board if there is one for this question.
How long should documentation regarding a settled lawsuit be kept?
This was a dispute over a large hedgerow that was illegally removed from a property in 2013. Settlement and payment occurred in 2015. There were no tax consequences. Non-disclosures were signed, so documentation regarding the settlement is sensitive.
Can the documentation be destroyed now? Should it be kept until the property is sold?
I don’t want this documentation to be someone else’s problem in the future if I can avoid it.
Why not digitize the documents and perhaps Email them to your own Email, perhaps a Gmail account?
This was a dispute over a large hedgerow that was illegally removed from a property in 2013. Settlement and payment occurred in 2015. There were no tax consequences. Non-disclosures were signed, so documentation regarding the settlement is sensitive.
Can the documentation be destroyed now? Should it be kept until the property is sold?
Keeping those documents might not be a bad idea, especially if the hedgerow and its removal were part of a dispute about the property’s boundaries. If that is the case, having the documentation might serve to simplify things with the title company at the time of sale.
Bill
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Why not digitize the documents and perhaps Email them to your own Email, perhaps a Gmail account?
There are easily 1000s of pages. It would be easier to save the box full or paper than to digitize it all. But perhaps I should just keep a few key documents, which would be easy to store either physically or electronically.
Keeping those documents might not be a bad idea, especially if the hedgerow and its removal were part of a dispute about the property’s boundaries. If that is the case, having the documentation might serve to simplify things with the title company at the time of sale.
That’s a good thought. I think I will close up the box and label it with clear instructions on why I kept it and when it can be destroyed. Also with a warning that contents can not be shared with anyone other than personal representative, attorney, and accountant.
Weeding the file to keep essential documents seems reasonable. And retain them while you own the property or have an interest in it.
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It’s easier to make a decision starting with what you’re protecting against by keeping the documents. My guesses are tax issues upon sale of property, or information for your executor, or if the respondent finds a way to appeal.
For all except an appeal, probably the critical documents are the judgement and less so, proof of payment. Since it’s related to real estate I’d keep those no more than 7-10 years after the property is disposed of.
Also critical documents, such as the judgement is likely also kept digitally and possibly physically by your lawyer and the courts.
Real answer: ask your attorney & accountant.
I would hope courts would keep retrievable records. Worth verifying.
I definitely would not count on a lawyer keeping records. I know a lawyer whose files were destroyed by Hurricane Sandy, another who retired and shredded everything. Probably exceptions, but still.
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It’s easier to make a decision starting with what you’re protecting against by keeping the documents. My guesses are tax issues upon sale of property, or information for your executor, or if the respondent finds a way to appeal.
I don’t really know what I’m protecting against. And I don’t know if I might need anything that isn’t available through the courts. I am just looking for a safe destroy date. Instead of admitting a mistake and making things right, the other party tried to redraw property lines by placing survey stakes through the property (without doing a survey) and encouraged employees to be intentionally annoying (stopping just short of illegal activity). The lawsuit ended up in the newspaper and local social media. I felt threatened and unsafe. It’s disturbing to read and I wouldn’t want any of my family to know how bad it got. Everything has been quiet since the settlement. It could have been an ugly circus with a jury trial and punitive damages, but thankfully a reasonable settlement was reached.
I plan to put the property on the market this year. I suppose the other party could choose to cause trouble, but I don’t expect it. With today’s market, I am hoping it will sell so fast the other party won’t notice until it’s over.
The other possible problem would be if something were to happen to me and a family member finds the documentation, puts it on social media as an “interesting story” and then the estate has to return the settlement. Improbable, but stranger things happen.
JonathanRoth - you’re right. The best thing for me to do is ask my attorney.
And it sounds like a general guideline for destroying real estate related documentation is 7-10 years after property is disposed of.
Thank you for your help and expertise.
HHP
I definitely would not count on a lawyer keeping records. I know a lawyer whose files were destroyed by Hurricane Sandy, another who retired and shredded everything. Probably exceptions, but still.
I also know a couple lawyers who retired from small practices. Upon retirement, they passed their active cases to other firms and shredded everything else. It’s probably common. Destroying records is a good way to protect confidentiality.
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Weeding the file to keep essential documents seems reasonable. And retain them while you own the property or have an interest in it.
I will contact my attorney and ask what is essential and how long to keep after selling property.
Why not digitize the documents and perhaps Email them to your own Email, perhaps a Gmail account?
There are easily 1000s of pages. It would be easier to save the box full or paper than to digitize it all. But perhaps I should just keep a few key documents, which would be easy to store either physically or electronically.
Not to be contrary, but you really just made the case to digitize. If you won’t own a high speed scanner, perhaps you can pay someone to do it for you.
Having to scan 60+ page double sided contracts a couple of times a year, a Epson Workforce ED 400II scanner was well worth $330.
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/epson-workforce-es-400-ii-duple…
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Not to be contrary, but you really just made the case to digitize. If you won’t own a high speed scanner, perhaps you can pay someone to do it for you.
I have a scanner. My father died last January and I am still spending hours going through all of his electronic records – slowly opening file after file after file trying to figure out what to keep and what can go… It is much quicker to flip through the files and boxes, even though they take up physical space.
YMMV
I don’t want to do this to someone else.
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I have a scanner. My father died last January and I am still spending hours going through all of his electronic records – slowly opening file after file after file trying to figure out what to keep and what can go… It is much quicker to flip through the files and boxes, even though they take up physical space.
YMMV
I don’t want to do this to someone else.
I totally do not get this. Why go through anything (except for finding what you need at the moment)? The whole beauty of digitized documents is that you can keep them forever with no cost. Perhaps delete everything after 10 or 20 years or have a trusted friend/family member agree to do this if you are unable.
I totally do not get this.
Feel fortunate that you can’t relate to this. Your files, CDs, memory sticks, external hard drives, etc. are probably well organized and labeled. I grew up in a household where the default is to “keep everything just in case you need it some day”. Unfortunately the important stuff gets lost amidst all of the unimportant stuff.
Why go through anything (except for finding what you need at the moment)?
If it’s your own stuff, you have a pretty good idea of what you have and where you might find it. After someone dies, you don’t know what you are looking for.
Some of my father’s digital files were important, but I had no idea they existed. The estate is not closed yet and I have had to look for things. It’s easier to look at everything once, decide whether or not it’s important, and keep a small subset of files.
In the case of the lawsuit records, I would not want any of my family members to see what I was subjected to. It’s upsetting for me to look at it now, years later, and remember how it felt to find notes tucked inside my screen door when I came home from work and find people working on my property “to help me out”. Comments made to me while I was out walking my dog – the words themselves were not threatening, but the expressions on the faces and tones of voice were. One of the involved parties had served time in jail and seemed to take pleasure in trying to bully me. The story was strange enough that a local paper reported on the lawsuit when it was filed and it was discussed in local social media.
In addition, because of the non-disclosure agreement, if someone in my family were to find these records and put them out on social media (I can’t believe what happened to HHP…), there is a chance that the estate could be sued. Destroying everything is a safer option than keeping it. I just need clarification from my attorney on the minimum amount of stuff to keep.
Ok, fair enough. I guess that there is an assumption that if someone is organized enough to digitize their records, then they are organized enough to organize the digitized records! Buying a top notch scanner back in 2006 was one of the single most valuable purchases I ever made.
I guess that there is an assumption that if someone is organized enough to digitize their records, then they are organized enough to organize the digitized records!
My Dad loved his gadgets, but he was not organized.
Your executor will thank you in the future.
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Your executor will thank you in the future.
But won’t know about it! 
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The above post should read: “But I won’t know about it”.
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