How long do you need to keep your everyday documents?

You must keep certain documents permanently. This is particularly the case for:

• your family booklet;
• your health record;
• your marriage contract;
• an adoption judgment;
• the deed of sale of a dwelling.

On the other hand, you can dispose of your rental contract and inventory 3 years after the end of the lease; and tax notice and your tax returns at the beginning of the 4^e year following the year for which the tax is due (for example, you can separate from your 2026 2025 income tax return on or after 1^er January 2029).

Your pay slips must be retained until you have asserted your pension rights with the various pension funds to which you have been linked during your career.

In these cases, these are the periods during which you can exercise a right, or during which you can be claimed something (a recovery, etc.). Whether the original document was issued to you in digital or paper format, the minimum retention period is the same.

You can of course keep these documents longer; this can allow you to bring evidence before the courts, or in different situations, if necessary. For example, it may be useful to keep your pay slips, even when you are retired, to calculate the pension that can be paid to you in the event of an occupational disease occurring after you retire.

Some documents must also be kept, including after the death of the holder of these documents. They can prove debts or claims passed on to the beneficiaries at the time of the succession.

One Public Service Simulator allows you to quickly read the minimum retention period of everyday documents (taxes, housing, work, vehicle, health, bank, etc.).