How long do massage therapists have to keep client records?

It ranges from one year to seven, depending on the state, and the number alone does not tell you when you can dispose of a file. Several states start the clock at the end of the therapeutic relationship rather than at the date of service, and most set a longer rule for minors. Check your own state's rule rather than assuming a common figure.

What does date of service versus end of relationship mean?

Date of service starts the clock on the day you treated the client, so each note ages independently. End of the therapeutic relationship starts it when you stop seeing that client, which means every note in the file ages from the same day, and a client you saw for ten years has a file that stays live long after the earliest sessions.

What if my state is not in this list?

This page covers only the states whose rule we have read against the board's own published source. Others either have no massage-specific retention rule, or have one whose clock trigger the published text does not state clearly enough for us to publish. Ask your board directly, and in the meantime keep records at least as long as the strictest rule you are aware of.

Can I keep the records digitally instead of on paper?

Generally yes: the rules quoted here set how long a record must exist and what it must contain, not what it is written on. What matters is that the record is complete, secure, and can be produced when legitimately requested. A few states have specific requirements about record format in other professions, so confirm with your board.

What happens if I destroy records too early?

You lose the evidence you would need if the session is ever questioned, and in a state that mandates retention you may also be in breach of the board's rule. Since disposal is irreversible and the cost of keeping a file is close to zero, the asymmetry argues for keeping longer than the minimum.

How Long to Keep Massage Client Records: 16 States, With the Rule Behind Each

Q: How long do I keep records for a client who was a minor?

Longer, in almost every state that addresses it. The usual pattern is a period running from the client turning 18, sometimes whichever is later of that and the ordinary adult period. A file for a client treated at 12 can therefore need keeping well over a decade.

Retention rules for massage records are less uniform than most therapists expect. Across the 16 states below, the shortest period is one year and the longest is seven, and two states with the same number can still mean different things by it because they start counting on different days.

Every rule here was read against the board’s or legislature’s own published text, and the citation sits beside each state so you can check it yourself. States we have not verified to that standard are deliberately absent rather than estimated.

The thing people get wrong: the clock, not the number

“Four years” sounds like a fixed shelf life. It is not, because states differ on what starts it.

Date of service starts the clock the day you treated the client. Each note ages independently, so a note from 2020 can be disposed of while a 2025 note from the same client stays live.

End of the therapeutic relationship starts it when you stop seeing that client. Every note in the file ages from the same day. A client you saw for eight years has a file where the earliest notes stay live for the full period after the last session, which can put the oldest note well past a decade.

Two states can both say “four years” and mean disposal dates years apart. When you set a reminder for a file, the trigger matters more than the number.

Minors are the second trap. Most states that address it run the period from the client turning 18, sometimes whichever is later of that and the ordinary adult rule. A client treated at 12 can produce a file you keep past their 25th birthday.

The 16 states

Periods are minimums. Nothing below is legal advice, and rules change.

Arizona

Six years after the last service for adults. For minors, the later of three years after their 18th birthday or six years after the last service. A.R.S. §§12-2291(5)(a), 12-2297(A)

Alabama

At least four years after the therapeutic relationship ends, not from the date of service. Ala. Admin. Code r. 532-X-3-.11(3)(d)

Delaware

At least three years from the last date services were provided, and the rule explicitly includes intake forms, not only session notes. 24 Del. Admin. Code 5300 §§11.1.15, 12.6.5

District of Columbia

Three years past the last contact for adults; for minors, three years after they reach majority. 17 DCMR §7514(v); 25-D DCMR §301.1

Florida

At least one year after a service or treatment is provided, the shortest period in this list. The duty sits on the establishment rather than the individual therapist, and keeping records longer than the minimum is widely recommended. Fla. Stat. §480.043(14)(f)

Indiana

At least six years from the date of service, covering client files and business records alike. 847 IAC 1-2-4(2)

Louisiana

At least five calendar years after the last service performed for that client. LAC 46:XLIV.4101(A)(3)-(5)

Maryland

Two rules overlap. The health-records statute requires seven years after a record is made, and until majority plus seven years for minors. Board rules separately require treatment records to be kept at least five years after the professional relationship ends. The longer seven-year statute usually governs. Md. Code, Health-Gen. §4-403(a)(1)(viii), (b)-(c); COMAR 10.65.03.04(A)(4)

Massachusetts

Seven years after the last client encounter. For minors, until age 18 or seven years, whichever is longer. The duty sits on the licensed establishment. 269 CMR 6.06(1)(a)-(c)

Michigan

At least seven years from the date of the service each record covers. MCL 333.16213(1)-(2)(a)

Missouri

At least three years from the last date of service. 20 CSR 2197-3.010(3)(F); 20 CSR 2197-5.010(1)(F)

New Jersey

At least seven years from the date of the most recent entry, so adding a note to a file restarts the period for that file. N.J.A.C. 13:37A-5.2(a)

North Carolina

At least four years after the therapeutic relationship ends, not from the date of service. 21 NCAC 30 .0505(2), .1005(a)

Oklahoma

At least three years from the date of service, covering client files and business records. OAC 175:20-9-2(b)

Pennsylvania

At least three years from the last date services were provided to the client. 49 Pa. Code §20.42(a)(19)

Washington

At least three years after the last treatment for adults; for minors, at least three years after they turn 18. WAC 246-830-570(1)-(2)

Why some states are not here

Plenty of states have a rule we could quote loosely. That is a different thing from a rule whose duration and clock trigger are both stated clearly enough in the published text to put in front of a working therapist.

Where a state’s rule states a period but leaves the trigger unstated, we treat it as unverified and leave it off this page rather than guessing that it counts from the last session. Idaho is a separate case: its 2024 rewrite contains no massage-specific retention period at all, so the older figure still circulating is obsolete.

If your state is missing, ask your board. It is a short email, and the answer is worth more than an inference from a neighbouring state.

A working approach

Find your trigger before your number. Date of service and end of relationship produce very different disposal dates from the same period.
Set the reminder per client file, not per note, if your state counts from the end of the relationship.
Treat minors separately. The clock usually starts at 18, so the file outlives the ordinary rule by years.
When in doubt, keep it. Storage costs almost nothing; early disposal is irreversible and removes the evidence you would want if a session is questioned.
Keep the record readable by someone else. A file you cannot interpret in five years is not much better than one you disposed of, which is what our SOAP note guide and abbreviations list are about.

The same rules, with the citation for each, are also on our massage record retention by state page, and SOAP Notes: Massage Client Log shows a plain-language keep-until date per client file using exactly the rules on this page.

Retention periods are guidance rather than legal advice, and they change. Verify with your own board before you rely on a date, and especially before you dispose of anything.