Mediation

Mediators: destroying divorce and conflict files

15 July 2026 · 10 min read · DeSnipperaar

A mediator works with people at a vulnerable moment: a divorce, a family conflict, an employment dispute or a business quarrel. Those files contain what parties share nowhere else: the family situation, finances, data about children and sometimes health. On top of that a strong confidentiality applies. This guide shows how long you keep a mediation file, what confidentiality means and how to destroy it confidentially.

The quick answer: the administration you keep for seven years for the tax retention obligation. The substantive mediation file you keep until a set period after completion, based on your professional rules and the nature of the case. Because the files are highly sensitive and fall under confidentiality, you destroy them at a fine level, with a certificate as proof.

Confidentiality through to destruction

Mediation stands or falls on confidentiality. Parties share openly what is going on, in the knowledge that it stays within the mediation. That confidentiality is often recorded in the mediation agreement and belongs to the professional rules. What comes up during the sessions stays confidential, and that carries through to the clearing out and destruction of the file. So a mediation file never belongs in the ordinary paper bin.

The GDPR additionally requires storage limitation and an appropriate level of security. Do not keep the file longer than necessary and destroy it so that nothing remains reconstructable. The confidentiality that applied during the trajectory applies fully at its end.

Retention periods by part

The period differs per type of data. The overview below gives the main line. Count the tax period from the end of the financial year and the other periods from the completion of the mediation.

Part	Starting point	Period
Administration and invoicing	Tax retention obligation	7 years
Mediation agreement	Proof of arrangements	purpose-bound
Substantive file and reports	Professional rules and nature of case	period after completion
Financial and family data	Highly sensitive	destroy finely
Data about children	Extra protection	destroy finely
Working notes and drafts	No retention obligation	clear out at once

Use this as a guideline, not a final legal ruling. Set the retention period in your own policy, matching your professional rules. The tax side is in the 7-year tax retention obligation.

Sensitive family and financial data

A divorce file contains almost everything that touches privacy: incomes and assets, a home, a pension, arrangements about children and sometimes information about health or addiction. That last category is special-category personal data with stricter rules. Keep the sensitive parts recognisably separate and destroy them at a fine level once the period has expired. Data about children in particular deserves that extra care.

Assess per file whether there is still a reason to keep something after completion, for example a running dispute or a subsequently supplied arrangement. If not and the period has expired, this file too should be destroyed confidentially.

Mediation and the legal chain

Mediation often sits in a chain with lawyers, notaries and sometimes the court. Some of the documents may lie with those parties, each with their own responsibility and retention rules. Keep your own file separate and match your period to your professional rules. How lawyers and notaries handle their files is in lawyers: destroying a file after a case and notaries: minutes, engrossments and what may go.

How to handle it in 6 steps

1. Split the file into administration, agreement, substantive file and sensitive data.
2. Clear out working notes and drafts without a retention obligation confidentially at once.
3. Treat financial, family and children's data separately and at a fine destruction level.
4. Assess per file whether the mediation is completed and the period expired.
5. Collect what may go in sealed containers, not in the paper bin.
6. Have it destroyed confidentially with a certificate and record it in your register.

Destroy confidentially with a certificate

Mediation files are destroyed confidentially at a fine level, because they contain highly sensitive family, financial and sometimes medical data. The paper and any data carriers travel sealed and stay that way until destruction, so the chain is closed. An old computer or backup with files belongs with it too.

Afterwards you receive a certificate of destruction with the date, quantity and level. That certificate is your proof towards the GDPR that you upheld confidentiality to the end. Record the destruction in your record of processing. We collect within 20 km of Amsterdam with no call-out charge, work nationwide through pooled collection rounds and charge a fixed price per box or roll container. Drop-off on site is not possible; it works by appointment through collection.

Common mistakes

• Keeping the file just in case. After completion and the expiry of the period the purpose lapses.
• Treating financial and children's data as ordinary paper. That is highly sensitive data.
• Forgetting confidentiality when clearing out. Confidentiality applies through to destruction.
• Throwing away unshredded. A divorce file on the street is a serious data breach.
• Keeping no proof. Without a certificate you cannot demonstrate the destruction.

Frequently asked questions

How long does a mediator keep a divorce file?

The administration falls under the seven-year tax retention obligation. The substantive mediation file you keep until a set period after completion, based on your professional rules and the nature of the case, and clear out afterwards.

Does a duty of confidentiality apply to mediation?

Yes. Mediation has a strong confidentiality: what is shared in the sessions stays confidential. That confidentiality carries through to the clearing out and destruction of the file.

Are divorce files special-category personal data?

They often contain highly sensitive data about the family situation, finances, children and sometimes health. So treat the file with extra care and destroy it at a fine level.

How do I destroy mediation files in line with the GDPR?

Confidentially and at a fine level, with a certificate of destruction. Paper and data carriers travel sealed and the destruction is recorded in the record of processing.

Conclusion

A mediator works with files full of the most personal things people have, under a strong confidentiality. Keep the administration seven years, keep the substantive file until the period from your professional rules has expired and treat financial, family and children's data separately. What may go you have destroyed confidentially at a fine level, with a certificate as proof. That way you uphold the confidentiality that characterises mediation to the end.

Read also: photographers: destroying client photos and portraits, driving schools: destroying pupil data, translation agencies: destroying confidential documents and the GDPR retention periods cheatsheet.

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Have mediation files collected? Request a quote via desnipperaar.nl. Within a few minutes you have a fixed price, including a certificate as proof.