A relationship ends. The archive remains.
Lawyers, accountants, banks, consultants, platforms and household providers may hold years of correspondence and identity material. Some retention is required. Some is habit. The old archive can become more complete than the institution’s current record.
Retention creates a continuing boundary
Ending live access does not end exposure. The former provider still has systems, staff, backups and incident risk. The institution should know what remains, why and under whose control.
Value object — The Post-Relationship Archive Schedule
- Record classes retained.
- Legal, regulatory or contractual basis.
- Operational access remaining.
- Storage, encryption and administrator model.
- Return, deletion and destruction dates.
- Evidence and contact for future incidents.
Separate archive from service
A provider may need to preserve records without keeping live portal access or current contact data. Narrow the environment to the retained purpose. Remove forwarding, delegated roles and recovery participation.
Maintain the institutional copy
Do not allow the outgoing adviser’s archive to become the only reliable history. Obtain indexed records and provenance in usable form before leverage disappears.
The archive is part of the relationship’s tail. Close it with the same precision used to open the engagement.