Create a document retention policy and schedule
Define what to keep, who owns it, and when to review or dispose of it. Export PDF, DOCX, and CSV.
Build my retention policyKeeping every record forever creates cost and risk. Deleting records without a shared rule creates a different set of problems.
Tell us about the organization
Location and structure determine which federal baselines appear in the draft.
Why write a retention policy?
Without a schedule, teams often keep records indefinitely or delete them according to personal habit. Neither approach gives the organization a consistent way to respond to routine operations, audits, disputes, privacy requests, or secure disposal.
A retention policy turns those decisions into named responsibilities and repeatable rules that can be reviewed before anyone destroys a record.
- What is covered?
- Define record categories such as tax, employment, contracts, corporate, client, safety, and insurance records.
- How long is it kept?
- Set a period and a clear trigger, such as creation, termination, supersession, filing, or the close of a fiscal year.
- Who is responsible?
- Name the policy owner, records owners, legal reviewer, technology owner, and people authorized to approve disposal.
- What stops disposal?
- Document how legal holds suspend the normal schedule during disputes, audits, investigations, and preservation requests.
What the generator gives you
Editable policy
A plain-language policy covering scope, responsibilities, secure storage, legal holds, disposal, review, and approval.
Records schedule
A category-by-category table with retention periods, triggers, owners, and disposition methods that you can change before export.
Three useful formats
Download PDF for review, DOCX for further editing and approval, or CSV for importing the schedule into another system.
Have qualified legal counsel review the draft
The generator is a planning aid, not legal advice. Its selected federal baselines do not replace the state, provincial, territorial, municipal, industry, contractual, insurance, and fact-specific rules that may apply to your organization. Review those requirements before adopting the policy or destroying records.
A policy only works when people can follow it
After legal review and approval, connect each record category to an owner, a review date, and a documented disposal process.
Keep the schedule next to the records
Stoatify gives organizations shared categories, due-date fields, reminders, access control, and full-text search so the approved schedule stays connected to the documents it governs.
Document retention policy questions
Why does an organization need a document retention policy?
A written policy gives people a consistent rule for keeping, reviewing, preserving, and disposing of records. It identifies who is responsible and helps prevent informal decisions that vary by person or department.
Is this document retention policy legal advice?
No. The generator provides a general template using selected federal baselines and organizational recommendations. State, provincial, territorial, municipal, industry, contractual, insurance, and fact-specific requirements can differ. Qualified legal counsel should review the policy before adoption or record destruction.
Does Stoatify receive my questionnaire answers?
No. The questionnaire, generated policy, schedule, organization name, and downloaded files stay in your browser. Stoatify receives anonymous funnel milestones when analytics are enabled, never the answers or generated content.
Which locations are covered?
The tool includes selected United States and Canadian federal baselines. It records your state, province, or territory for the policy and legal review, but it does not claim to provide localized legal periods.
What happens during a lawsuit, audit, or investigation?
A legal hold overrides the normal schedule. Records connected to a dispute, claim, audit, investigation, subpoena, preservation request, or anticipated proceeding must not be destroyed until the authorized legal reviewer releases the hold in writing.
Can I customize the retention schedule?
Yes. You can edit every category, period, trigger, owner, and disposition method, remove suggested rows, and add your own categories before downloading the PDF, DOCX, or CSV files.
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