The Importance of Record Keeping
No matter what your legal issue, documentation can play a key role in proving or defending your case. Be it contract, personal injury, or estates – record keeping becomes key if things go sour and a dispute arises.
If your issues go unresolved and litigation occurs, documents become increasingly important – especially as your case moves towards trial. At trial, the judge, as the finder of fact, must make determinations as to what actually occurred and documents may have a substantial impact on the fact finding process.
The following are some examples of when documentation is important and some steps you can take to create a paper trail.
Contract disputes often turn on what was agreed to, what modifications or amendments were made , and if or when an agreement was reached or breached. Often contracts are made on a handshake basis but when a dispute arises documentation becomes increasingly important.
Be sure to print and keep any emails you receive which discuss the dealings, as often these emails are deleted by the time the dispute arises a year of two later. If you make an agreement it is good practice to follow up with an email outlining what you have agreed. Keep all invoices and quotes and if a document is not dated make a note on it to indicate when it was received or sent.
Depending on the circumstances you may also want to take notes. Ensure the notes are dated so that they can easily be referred back to them. While in an ideal world you would have a complete record from the start to finish often that is not the case. That said, if you get the feeling that things are about to go sour start making a record immediately.
In personal injury cases proving the nature and extent of your damages is crucial. This includes not only your injuries themselves, but the extra costs associated with those injuries and what impact they have on your everyday activities. It is important to keep receipts for all your additional expenses including, for example, transportation costs (i.e. if you can no longer drive), medication/ prescription costs, and the cost of various rehabilitative treatments such as acupuncture, physiotherapy and massage. It is also helpful to keep a journal or notes of your injuries and their impact on your life, including not only the fact that you are in pain, but if and when the pain stopped you from participating in certain events, or doing certain activities.
Anytime you are managing someone else’s affair be it under a power of attorney, as a committee, or if you are responsible for an estate, be it as executor or administrator, record keeping is crucial as there are legal and ethical obligations to comply with. Having complete and detailed records of all financial transactions is essential and they can help you answer questions from beneficiaries or from other family members. If you are the executor of an estate and intend to claim expenses and executor’s fees it is important that you have a detailed and complete list of all your expenses and all of the time you spent managing the estate.
Finally, if you are having ongoing issues or dealings with any organization, your employer /employee, government body, or council (city, strata, or other) be sure to keep full records and create a paper trail. Where possible set out any requests or complaints in writing. If you made a request in person – make a note of what day, who you made the request to and what you were told.
If you attended a meeting where important decisions were made, make notes of the date, who was at the meeting, and what was discussed and decided. Be sure to make the records sooner rather than later as over time memory fades and you may forget key details. If you are a member of any organization, society, or council ensure you look into the requirements with respect to records and record retention.
Record keeping is important in so many aspects of everyday life. Having a complete record of what occurred can make a significant difference in the outcome should a legal dispute occur. While in a perfect world everyone would keep well organized files and full records keeping complete records of all day to day dealings is an unrealistic goal. That said throwing everything in a shoe box you keep instead of the trash is a great start as if something comes up down the road you know the documents are still there if you need them.
