2026-08-16
Records outlive the person who kept them
In short. This Weltee Journal note argues that individuals should keep asset records because those records outlive the holder. It cites IRS Publication 552: copies of returns and other records can help a survivor or the executor of an estate, and good records identify income, expenses, and the basis of property. It cites IRS Publication 551: basis is the amount of investment in property for tax purposes, and accurate records of every item that affects basis are required to compute gain or loss. It cites IRS Topic 305 and the Service's retention guidance: keep records generally for three years, and keep property records until the limitations period expires for the year of disposition. It cites IRS Publication 559: a personal representative is in charge of the decedent's property. It cites the CFPB and the FTC: AnnualCreditReport.com is the only authorized source under federal law for the free annual credit reports. The note is for anyone who owns property that someone else may one day have to settle. The next step is to keep basis files with the ledger and to tell the executor where the book is.
The books are for the living, and then for the next person
IRS Publication 552 is written for the living taxpayer. It is equally a letter to the dead. Copies of returns and other records, the Service notes, can be helpful to a survivor or to the executor or administrator of an estate. Good records identify sources of income, keep track of expenses, and keep track of the basis of property.
A household that keeps no ledger is not being private. It is leaving a scavenger hunt.
Basis is not a mood
IRS Publication 551, Basis of Assets, opens with a sentence of unusual cleanliness. Basis is the amount of your investment in property for tax purposes. One uses it to figure depreciation and to figure gain or loss on a sale. The Service is explicit: you must keep accurate records of all items that affect the basis of property so you can make these computations.
Topic 305 and the Service's note on how long to keep records set the ordinary period at three years. Property records are kept until the period of limitations expires for the year in which the property is disposed of. A residence, a block of shares, a private interest: the file travels with the asset, not with the tax season.
Someone will be placed in charge
IRS Publication 559, Survivors, Executors, and Administrators, defines the personal representative as the person in charge of the decedent's property. An executor named in a will, or an administrator appointed by a court, must find what the decedent held. They cannot invent a brokerage account that was never written down. They cannot reconstruct a cost basis from family legend.
A current household ledger is therefore a civil act. It shortens the grief of other people.
Credit is part of the estate
Assets have a counterpart in the consumer-report file. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission both state that AnnualCreditReport.com is the authorized source under federal law for the free annual reports from Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. A household that never inspects that file does not know the liabilities others have already written in its name.
Keep the ledger. Keep the basis file. Tell one trusted person where both sit. The record is the last courtesy a private fortune can pay.