What Documents Can I Destroy While Sheltering at Home?

Below are helpful tips to assist you in clearing some clutter while you have some time at home.

The following forms and documents should be wrapped in plastic and kept in a fire-proof environment: 

1. Keep your original estate plan documents
2. Keep your disability insurance, long term care insurance, life insurance, and annuity policies in a fire proof environment 
3. Keep birth certificates, marriage certificates, death certificates, and divorce documents.

Further:

1. Save all documentation of the purchase of any property and improvements to property.
2. You can shred:
   1. Bank deposits and ATM receipts
   2. Credit card bills
   3. Property/casualty insurance policies
   4. Monthly investment statements 
   5. Pay stubs
      
   6. Receipts you are not using to itemize tax deductions or return merchandise

Tax documents should be kept for 7 years from the date you filed your original return. Further, keep all documentation related to loans which are outstanding, until the loan is paid off. Keep a warranty file for all of your appliances and devices and the receipt for said appliances and devices in one file. 

If you are able to scan your documents into a PDF or other digital format and save those documents to your computer or on a backup hard drive, you can clear a lot of your physical documents.

See Michael Hackman & Kira Masteller What Documents Can I Destroy While Sheltering at Home?, Lewitt Hackman, June 3, 2020.

Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse (Professional Legal Marketing (PLM, Inc.)) for bringing this article to my attention.