Reader Question: Is there a minimum amount of time documents should be kept in France? Does it change between document type?
Despite the increased digitisation of the modern world, there are still some documents that you are recommended to keep in hard copy records in France.
Mostly, the keeping of records is good practice to protect your rights, and/or enable you to prove a contract if need be, states the Service Public website.
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Certain documents are considered to be of particular importance. It is recommended that you hold onto documents including these - if applicable - for life:
Livret de famille (family record book)
Carnet de santé (health record)
Contrat de mariage (marriage contract)
Jugement d’adoption (adoption judgement)
Acte de vente d’un logement (deed of sale of a property)
While French citizens will have some of these for life (such as the livret de famille), non-citizens may get one at a certain point, or in the cases of sales deeds, when they buy or sell a property.
It may be prudent to keep other documents for varying lengths of time, the website states. For example:
Tenancy agreement: If you are a tenant, you should keep your tenancy agreement and inventory of fixtures for three years after the end of the lease.
Tax notices and tax returns: Keep until the beginning of the fourth year following that tax year (e.g. you can dispose of your 2024 return from the beginning of 2028)
Salary slips: These are useful for obtaining a pension at retirement, so you may wish to keep them until you have claimed your pension
Sale of a car: No set limit on keeping it, but may be useful to keep for several years in case the new owner disputes something with you.
Public hospital bill: Four years
Medical certificate or medical exam results: Forever. Can be helpful in the event of a worsening health condition.
The Service Public website has a search engine that you can use to check the recommended storage time for particular documents. It also explains what to do with someone's records after they die.
You are advised to keep the original paper format of a document if it has been given to you in this format, as a digital version or photocopy may not be considered valid.
Digital documents sent by email or similar may be kept digital, but it is a good idea to save them to a secure drive on your computer and back them up to a separate drive.
For this reason, you may also wish to print out digital copies of important documents, even if they were originally issued to you in digital format only.
