Disclosed are embodiments of a system and method for establishing and managing document retention policy in a distributed computing environment. One embodiment comprises the steps of loading documents into a database as individual components or items; establishing a custodian for each document instance; categorizing its content into a plurality of categories; assigning retention periods to the content by category; and continuously monitoring retention policies according to the assigned retention periods. Any database capable of storing de-duplicated data can be adapted to implement embodiments of the invention. One embodiment utilizes codified algorithms to cross-match one or more retention policies with each document instance in the system based on the role of the custodian held at the time the instance was created and retained and/or the content or category of the content to which the document refers. If multiple policies apply, the retention period is set to the furthest in the future.