For a practice that is closing, being sold, relocating or whose physician is retiring. Prepared 21 September 2026.
How long records must be kept
Adult patients
At least 7 years. Failing to maintain adequate and accurate records for that period is unprofessional conduct.
Patients who were minors
No separate physician period set by B&P 2266.
Clock starts
The last date of service to the patient.
Also
Effective 1 January 2024 (SB 815) - this is a recent change.
Also
Certain Medi-Cal patients: 10 years under Welf. & Inst. Code s.14124.1.
Also
Licensed FACILITIES (clinics, health facilities, home health agencies, hospices) have a separate duty under Health & Safety Code s.123145 that applies precisely when the licensee ceases operation.
Before you close — what this state requires
CALIFORNIA'S RETENTION RULE IS ITSELF A CLOSURE RULE, which is easy to miss. Health and Safety Code 123145(a), read at leginfo.legislature.ca.gov: providers licensed under sections 1205, 1253, 1575 and 1726 'have an obligation, IF THE LICENSEE CEASES OPERATION, to preserve records for a minimum of seven years following discharge of the patient, except that the records of unemancipated minors shall be kept at least one year after the minor has reached the age of 18 years, and in any case, not less than seven years.'
The section defines records as ABANDONED where that preservation obligation is violated and patients are left without access to their medical records - so in California, failing to arrange a custodian has a named legal status.
Where a records custodian fits
California law addresses a records custodian directly in the items above. Morgan Records Management performs this role; the duties below are the ones that transfer to, or must be evidenced by, whoever holds the records.
The section defines records as ABANDONED where that preservation obligation is violated and patients are left without access to their medical records - so in California, failing to arrange a custodian has a named legal status.
What California does not require
Stated so nobody infers a duty that is not there.
123145 binds licensed FACILITIES - clinics, health facilities, home health agencies and hospices - not an individual physician's office. California sets no equivalent statutory retention period for a solo physician practice; the operative floors there are HIPAA's six years and the malpractice limitation period.
No patient-notice or board-notice deadline is set by 123145.
What you may charge for copies
25 cents per page plus reasonable clerical costs (Health & Safety Code s.123110).
Where this comes from
Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code s.2266 https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=BPC§ionNum=2266
Cal. Health & Safety Code s.123145 (facilities ceasing operation) https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=HSC§ionNum=123145
Read this before you act on it. Every statement above was taken from the state's own published rule or statute and is quoted or closely paraphrased from it. It is a working checklist, not legal advice, and it is a snapshot: retention periods change, and several states adjust their copying fees every year. Confirm the current text with the source listed above, or with your attorney, before you rely on a date or a dollar figure.
Figures stated as of: Verified September 2026
Prepared by Morgan Records Management for California. Checklist built 21 September 2026.