Bank statements

[Regretsandregrets]

Do I need to keep bank statements in paper form for a certain number of years? If I die suddenly tomorrow, will they be needed by HMRC or probate or anyone else?. Do the banks provide all the details, if required, as far back as necessary? I want to shred all my statements more than 12 months old but not sure if it will cause issues later.

Many people have switched to digital now and no longer receive a paper copy, better for the environment . Statements are retained and held on record , I work for a bank and we retain 7 years worth of statements , anything older than that is archived.

No, I don't think you need to keep the statements. You should get an annual interest summary thing each year which I think you ought to keep.

But if you have online banking, you could just file the PDF copies of your statements.

I haven't seen an actual bank statement for years, mine are all online so I can't see why you would need to keep any.

Thanks for all the replies.
I will get rid of old ones and just keep most recent 6 month's statements.

you can just stop doing this task save yourself some time and go paperless!!

I wouldn't bother keeping any of them. Most banks are trying to move away from paper statements anyway. All the Information can be found on your online banking and downloaded

I needed to submit 12 years worth of bank statements when buying my first property, as I had saved the full purchase price over that many years. The solicitors demanded original bank statements to show how I had built up that much in savings, for AML reasons.

I wouldn't have been able to access that many years worth of statements in online banking but I like filing and storing admin papers just in case so it was easy for me to get them out of the loft and send them off.

@getaredfalc interesting!
I had similar problems in the past when NHS pensions had an incomplete record of my contributions and luckily I had saved each and every pay slip from all my jobs and was in a position to prove that their records needed updating!!

When my Mother died there were questions over lifetime gifts; she was very generous over helping my sis and I out with a few hundred here or there towards holidays etc. Sis also did all sorts of shopping and household stuff which she paid for with Mum 'settling up' later.

We had to go through seven years worth of statements which the bank, Barclays, happily provided to try to identify the cheques involved.

It was possiblr but a helluva game. If you pay/receive stuff like that keep proper records!!

@Bromptotoo .I am exactly in that position. I have gifted money to my daughter over the years and I have documented all those gifts. I am holding on to last 7 year's statements with all those transactions highlighted so a trail can be easily established without too much hassle. Just my way of making life easy for my daughter when I am gone.
I accept that it is a waste of paper but I don't trust all the modern digital records and for things vitally important prefer to have a backup wherever possible.