How Long to Keep Records After Death: Tax, Probate, and Property

After a death, keep most federal tax records for at least three years, stretch that to six or seven years when the estate was complex or the IRS could question reported values, and keep a smaller set of documents — death certificates, the probate discharge, property appraisals, gift tax returns, Form 8971 basis reports, and the estate tax closing letter — permanently. How long to keep records after death depends on which record you are holding and what could still go wrong: an IRS assessment, a late creditor claim, a Medicaid recovery action, or a beneficiary selling inherited property decades later.

The rules below break down by document type so you can sort the estate’s paperwork into three piles: short-term (three to four years), medium-term (six to seven years), and permanent.

Quick Reference by Record Type

Decedent’s final Form 1040, estate’s Form 1041, and Form 706 estate tax return: at least 3 years, ideally 6–7.
Employment tax records for household workers or caregivers: at least 4 years after the tax was due or paid.
Gift tax returns (Form 709): permanent.
Form 8971 and Schedules A: permanent.
Estate tax closing letter and IRS discharge letters: permanent.
Property appraisals and date-of-death valuations: permanent, or at least until the beneficiary sells and the resulting tax return ages out.
Probate filings, court orders, accountings, creditor correspondence: at least 7 years after the final decree.
Proof of debt payoff and account closures: at least 7 years.
Medicaid benefit statements and correspondence: until recovery is completed or waived.
Death certificates, final probate decree, and asset distribution records: permanent.

Three Years, Six Years, or Forever: The Tax Timeline

The IRS generally has three years from the date a return is filed (or its due date, whichever is later) to assess additional tax.¹ That clock covers the decedent’s final Form 1040, the estate’s Form 1041, and Form 706 if one was required. Keep every supporting document — receipts, bank and brokerage statements, and IRS correspondence — for that full window.

The window doubles to six years if a return omitted more than 25 percent of gross income, or, for estate tax returns, more than 25 percent of the gross estate.¹ Because an executor cannot always predict whether reported values will hold up under review, holding tax records for six to seven years is the safer default, especially when the estate involved business interests, hard-to-value assets, or substantial deductions.

Three situations remove the time limit entirely: a fraudulent return, a willful attempt to evade tax, or no return filed at all.¹ If there is any chance the decedent failed to file or underreported income in a way that could be viewed as intentional, keep everything indefinitely. Destroying records in that situation can leave the executor personally exposed.

If the decedent employed household workers, caregivers, or other staff, employment tax records must be kept at least four years after the tax was due or paid, whichever is later.² That includes Social Security contributions, federal income tax withholding, and unemployment tax payments.

The Estate Tax Closing Letter and Executor Discharge

After Form 706 is filed, the IRS does not automatically confirm that the return has been accepted. The executor must request a closing letter through Pay.gov and pay a $67 user fee, waiting at least nine months after filing before submitting the request.³ Once received, the closing letter belongs in permanent storage. Title companies and buyers may refuse to close on estate property without it.

Executors can also request a formal discharge from personal liability. For estate tax, the application is filed under 26 U.S.C. § 2204; the IRS then has nine months to determine the amount owed, and once that is paid, a written discharge releases the executor from later-discovered deficiencies.⁴ For the decedent’s income and gift taxes, 26 U.S.C. § 6905 sets up a parallel process, with automatic discharge if the IRS does not respond within nine months.⁵ Keep every discharge application, the IRS response, or proof that nine months passed without a response, permanently.

Why Gift Tax Returns Are Permanent

Copies of the decedent’s Form 709 gift tax returns need to survive as long as they could affect any federal tax calculation, which in practice means indefinitely. Lifetime gifts reduce the estate tax exemption available at death, so a complete gift history is what makes the estate’s remaining exclusion calculable.⁶

Portability compounds this. When a first spouse dies and the executor transfers the deceased spousal unused exclusion (DSUE) to the surviving spouse, the IRS can examine the deceased spouse’s return to verify the DSUE amount whenever the surviving spouse uses it, even many years later.⁶

Property Records and Stepped-Up Basis

Inherited property generally takes a new tax basis equal to its fair market value on the date of death, rather than what the decedent originally paid.⁷ When the beneficiary later sells, capital gains tax rides on the gap between the sale price and that stepped-up basis. Without proof of the date-of-death value, the IRS may fall back on a less favorable basis and the beneficiary pays more.

Keep appraisals, real estate deeds, brokerage statements showing date-of-death values, and vehicle titles for as long as the beneficiary owns the asset, and ideally three to six years after the sale. Because heirs sometimes hold inherited property for decades, permanent storage is the practical answer.

When Form 706 is required, the executor must also file Form 8971 with the IRS and give each beneficiary a Schedule A reporting the value of what they received.⁸ The form is due 30 days after Form 706 is filed or 30 days after its due date (including extensions), whichever is earlier. Keep the executor’s copy of Form 8971 and every Schedule A permanently. Each beneficiary should keep their Schedule A for as long as they hold the inherited property, since it is the direct link between the estate’s reported values and the beneficiary’s future tax basis.

Probate, Creditor, and Debt Records

Probate law in most states gives creditors a limited window to file claims after notice is published. Many states follow a framework like the Uniform Probate Code, which sets that window at four months from publication. Hold on to proof of publication, typically the newspaper’s affidavit, because losing it can expose the estate to arguments that notice was never properly given.

Probate paperwork itself — the petition, court orders, accountings filed with the court, and creditor correspondence — should be kept at least seven years after the probate court issues its final decree or order of distribution. That buffer covers the possibility of a beneficiary challenge or a previously unknown creditor surfacing.

Throughout administration, the executor should keep a running fiduciary ledger of every dollar the estate received (interest, dividends, rental income, sale proceeds) and every disbursement (funeral costs, attorney fees, court costs, property maintenance, creditor payments). If administrative expenses are deducted on Form 1041, keep receipts and proof of payment for each one. Expenses can be deducted on either Form 706 or Form 1041, not both, and the executor must file a written waiver of the Form 706 deduction before claiming it on Form 1041.⁹ Keep those waiver statements with the estate’s tax files.

Records showing the decedent’s debts — mortgages, personal loans, credit cards — were paid and the accounts closed should be kept at least seven years. That aligns with the period most credit reporting agencies maintain account history and gives you a defense against erroneous collection attempts after the estate is closed. Final payment confirmations, account closure letters, and zero-balance statements are the ones that matter.

Medicaid Estate Recovery Records

Federal law requires every state to seek recovery from the estate of a Medicaid recipient who was 55 or older when they received benefits. At minimum, states must recover costs for nursing facility services, home and community-based care, and related hospital and prescription drug services. Some states go further and recover all Medicaid-paid services.¹⁰

Recovery cannot begin until after the death of the surviving spouse, and only when there is no surviving child under 21 or who is blind or disabled.¹⁰ Because a recovery claim can arrive years after probate closes, keep Medicaid benefit statements, property valuations, and correspondence with the state Medicaid agency until recovery is either completed or formally waived. If a hardship waiver is on the table, keep the supporting documents — proof of residency, disability status, caregiving history — for as long as recovery remains possible.

Digital Account Records

Nearly every state has adopted the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, which gives executors a legal path to the decedent’s email, social media, cloud storage, cryptocurrency wallets, and digital media libraries. To gain access, the executor typically submits a certified death certificate, letters of appointment or a court order, and the will or trust granting fiduciary authority.

Keep records of every request sent to a platform, every response, and how each account was resolved (transferred, closed, or memorialized). Store these with the rest of the probate file for at least seven years after the estate closes. For cryptocurrency and other digital assets with real value, keep date-of-death valuation records as well, because the stepped-up basis rules apply the same way they do to physical property.

What to Keep Permanently — and Where

Some documents should never be discarded:

Original death certificates, needed for insurance claims, title transfers, account closures, and government filings for years after death.
The final probate decree or order of discharge, which is the legal proof that the estate was settled.
Asset distribution records, including signed receipts and transfer confirmations, so inheritance disputes and title questions can be answered years later.
Form 8971 and each Schedule A, when Form 706 was required, documenting the stepped-up values beneficiaries are expected to use on future returns.⁸
The estate tax closing letter.
Gift tax returns (Form 709) and lifetime gift documentation.
Property appraisals and date-of-death valuations.
Discharge letters from the IRS under 26 U.S.C. § 2204 or § 6905, along with your application copies.

Keep permanent records in a fireproof safe, a bank safe deposit box, or a secure encrypted digital backup. Give copies of the appraisals and Form 8971 Schedules A to the relevant beneficiaries, so they can find their basis information without having to reach the executor a decade later.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6501 – Limitations on Assessment and Collection
2
Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 305, Recordkeeping
3
Internal Revenue Service. Frequently Asked Questions on the Estate Tax Closing Letter
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 2204 – Discharge of Fiduciary From Personal Liability
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6905 – Discharge of Executor From Personal Liability for Decedents Income and Gift Taxes
6
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 709 (2025)
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 1014 – Basis of Property Acquired From a Decedent
8
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 8971 and Schedule A
9
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 559 (2025), Survivors, Executors, and Administrators
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 1396p – Liens, Adjustments and Recoveries, and Transfers of Assets