diff --git a/packages/w3c-vc/src/lib/presentation/index.test.ts b/packages/w3c-vc/src/lib/presentation/index.test.ts
index dfae1fd..e198173 100644
--- a/packages/w3c-vc/src/lib/presentation/index.test.ts
+++ b/packages/w3c-vc/src/lib/presentation/index.test.ts
@@ -27,15 +27,39 @@ const assertDefined = <T>(value: T | undefined, message: string): T => {
   return value;
 };
 
+/**
+ * The modern fixtures carry a TransferableRecords credentialStatus, which cannot be
+ * presented. `credentialStatus` is a mandatory pointer so it survives derivation — tests
+ * about anything other than transferable records need it gone before signing.
+ */
+const presentableV2 = () => {
+  const { credentialStatus: _transferableRecord, ...rest } = modernCredentialV2_0 as Record<
+    string,
+    unknown
+  >;
+  return rest;
+};
+
 /**
  * Signs a credential and derives it (selective disclosure) so it is a
  * verifiable, holder-presentable credential.
+ *
+ * The shared modern fixtures carry a TransferableRecords credentialStatus, which is NOT
+ * presentable — ownership of a transferable record lives on-chain. It is dropped before
+ * signing rather than relied on being derived away: `credentialStatus` is a mandatory
+ * pointer, so it survives derivation and the presentation would be rejected. The dedicated
+ * `rejects TransferableRecords credentials` block below keeps it, via makeSignedCredential.
  */
 const makeDerivedCredential = async (
   credential: object,
   keyPair: object,
   cryptosuite: 'ecdsa-sd-2023' | 'bbs-2023',
 ): Promise<SignedVerifiableCredential> => {
+  const { credentialStatus: _transferableRecord, ...presentable } = credential as Record<
+    string,
+    unknown
+  >;
+  credential = presentable;
   const signed = await signCredential(credential as never, keyPair as never, cryptosuite);
   if (signed.error) throw new Error(`sign failed: ${signed.error}`);
   const derived = await deriveCredential(
@@ -416,7 +440,8 @@ describe('Verifiable Presentation', () => {
 
     beforeAll(async () => {
       // The modern credential fixtures carry a TransferableRecords credentialStatus;
-      // a base (non-derived) signature retains it.
+      // a base (non-derived) signature retains it. This block NEEDS it, so it uses the
+      // fixture as-is rather than presentableV2().
       transferableRecordVc = await makeSignedCredential(
         {
           ...modernCredentialV2_0,
@@ -556,7 +581,7 @@ describe('Verifiable Presentation', () => {
       // modernCredentialV2_0 has validUntil 2029; reveal it, then treat "now" as 2030.
       const signed = await signCredential(
         {
-          ...modernCredentialV2_0,
+          ...presentableV2(),
           issuer: ECDSA_DID_KEY_ISSUER,
           validFrom: '2024-04-01T12:19:52Z',
         },
@@ -582,7 +607,7 @@ describe('Verifiable Presentation', () => {
       // Build a VP whose embedded credential expires in 2021, created in 2020 (so creation passes).
       const signed = await signCredential(
         {
-          ...modernCredentialV2_0,
+          ...presentableV2(),
           issuer: ECDSA_DID_KEY_ISSUER,
           validFrom: '2020-01-01T00:00:00Z',
           validUntil: '2021-01-01T00:00:00Z',
diff --git a/packages/w3c-vc/src/lib/w3c-vc.test.ts b/packages/w3c-vc/src/lib/w3c-vc.test.ts
index c465d97..3ae3973 100644
--- a/packages/w3c-vc/src/lib/w3c-vc.test.ts
+++ b/packages/w3c-vc/src/lib/w3c-vc.test.ts
@@ -261,6 +261,85 @@ describe('W3C Verifiable Credentials', () => {
           expect(verificationResult.error).toBeUndefined();
         });
 
+        describe('fields a holder must not be able to withhold', () => {
+          // Selective disclosure lets the holder drop any non-mandatory statement while the
+          // credential still verifies, so anything that limits whether a credential may
+          // still be used has to be mandatory at issuance. These derivations deliberately
+          // ask for none of those fields; they must come back anyway.
+          const expiryField = dateField === 'validFrom' ? 'validUntil' : 'expirationDate';
+          const revealOnlyOneSubjectField = ['/credentialSubject/billOfLadingName'];
+
+          it(`keeps ${dateField === 'validFrom' ? 'validUntil' : 'expirationDate'} through an unrelated derivation`, async () => {
+            const testCredential = {
+              ...credential,
+              [dateField]: dateValue,
+              [expiryField]: '2029-12-03T12:19:52Z',
+            };
+
+            const signedCredential = await signCredential(testCredential, keyPair, cryptosuite);
+            expect(signedCredential.error).toBeUndefined();
+
+            const derivedCredential = await deriveCredential(
+              signedCredential.signed,
+              revealOnlyOneSubjectField,
+            );
+            expect(derivedCredential.error).toBeUndefined();
+            // Without this, an expired credential could be presented with no expiry at all.
+            expect(derivedCredential.derived?.[expiryField]).toBe('2029-12-03T12:19:52Z');
+
+            const verificationResult = await verifyCredential(derivedCredential.derived);
+            expect(verificationResult.verified).toBe(true);
+          });
+
+          it('keeps credentialStatus through an unrelated derivation', async () => {
+            const testCredential = {
+              ...credential,
+              '@context': [...credential['@context'], 'https://w3id.org/vc/status-list/2021/v1'],
+              [dateField]: dateValue,
+              credentialStatus: {
+                id: 'https://trustvc.github.io/did/credentials/statuslist/1#10',
+                type: 'StatusList2021Entry',
+                statusPurpose: 'revocation',
+                statusListIndex: '10',
+                statusListCredential: 'https://trustvc.github.io/did/credentials/statuslist/1',
+              },
+            };
+
+            const signedCredential = await signCredential(testCredential, keyPair, cryptosuite);
+            expect(signedCredential.error).toBeUndefined();
+
+            const derivedCredential = await deriveCredential(
+              signedCredential.signed,
+              revealOnlyOneSubjectField,
+            );
+            expect(derivedCredential.error).toBeUndefined();
+            // Without this, a revoked credential could be presented with the entry removed.
+            expect(derivedCredential.derived?.credentialStatus).toBeDefined();
+
+            const verificationResult = await verifyCredential(derivedCredential.derived);
+            expect(verificationResult.verified).toBe(true);
+          });
+
+          it('leaves a credential carrying neither field unaffected', async () => {
+            // The shared fixture already has an expiry, so strip both fields to test the
+            // case where there is nothing extra to force.
+            const testCredential = { ...credential, [dateField]: dateValue };
+            delete (testCredential as Record<string, unknown>)[expiryField];
+            delete (testCredential as Record<string, unknown>).credentialStatus;
+
+            const signedCredential = await signCredential(testCredential, keyPair, cryptosuite);
+            expect(signedCredential.error).toBeUndefined();
+
+            const derivedCredential = await deriveCredential(
+              signedCredential.signed,
+              revealOnlyOneSubjectField,
+            );
+            expect(derivedCredential.error).toBeUndefined();
+            expect(derivedCredential.derived?.[expiryField]).toBeUndefined();
+            expect(derivedCredential.derived?.credentialStatus).toBeUndefined();
+          });
+        });
+
         it('should automatically include entire credentialSubject when no properties selected', async () => {
           const testCredential = { ...credential, [dateField]: dateValue };
 
diff --git a/packages/w3c-vc/src/lib/w3c-vc.ts b/packages/w3c-vc/src/lib/w3c-vc.ts
index c53dc03..b104c06 100644
--- a/packages/w3c-vc/src/lib/w3c-vc.ts
+++ b/packages/w3c-vc/src/lib/w3c-vc.ts
@@ -281,20 +281,53 @@ export const signCredential = async (
       const firstContext = credential['@context'][0];
       const isV2 = firstContext === CredentialContextVersion.v2;
 
-      // Core mandatory pointers for fields required for credential validity
+      // Core mandatory pointers for fields required for credential validity.
+      //
+      // These are forced rather than left to the caller because selective disclosure lets
+      // the HOLDER omit any statement the issuer did not mark mandatory, and the credential
+      // still verifies. Anything constraining whether a credential may still be used has to
+      // be here or a holder can derive it away: a revoked credential presented with no
+      // `credentialStatus`, or an expired one with no expiry, verifies clean. The removal is
+      // undetectable — the derived proof records nothing about what was withheld, and
+      // dropping the then-unused `@context` entry leaves the canonical RDF, and so the
+      // signature, intact. Verification cannot catch it; issuance is the only defence.
       const coreMandatoryPointers = ['/issuer'];
 
-      // Add date field pointer based on credential version
+      // Add date field pointers based on credential version. Both ends of the validity
+      // window belong here — forcing only the start would leave the expiry strippable.
       if (isV2) {
         // For v2.0, validFrom is optional but if present should be mandatory for consistency
         if (credential.validFrom) {
           coreMandatoryPointers.push('/validFrom');
         }
+        if (credential.validUntil) {
+          coreMandatoryPointers.push('/validUntil');
+        }
       } else {
         // For v1.1, issuanceDate is required
         coreMandatoryPointers.push('/issuanceDate');
+        if (credential.expirationDate) {
+          coreMandatoryPointers.push('/expirationDate');
+        }
       }
 
+      // A revocation entry a holder can withhold is not a revocation entry.
+      if (credential.credentialStatus) {
+        coreMandatoryPointers.push('/credentialStatus');
+      }
+
+      // BEFORE ENFORCING A NEW FIELD DURING VERIFICATION, ADD IT HERE FIRST.
+      //
+      // `credentialSchema` and `termsOfUse` are deliberately absent: nothing reads them
+      // today, so forcing them would only widen what a derivation discloses. But the moment
+      // a verifier starts acting on one, a holder can delete it and the check is silently
+      // skipped rather than failed — and that cannot be fixed retroactively, because
+      // mandatory pointers are fixed at issuance. Credentials signed before the pointer is
+      // added stay strippable forever and have to be reissued.
+      //
+      // `evidence`, `renderMethod` and `qrCode` are informational or display-only, and
+      // withholding them is a legitimate holder choice; they should stay optional.
+
       // Combine core mandatory pointers with user-provided ones, ensuring core fields are always included
       const userMandatoryPointers = options?.mandatoryPointers || [];
       const mandatoryPointers = [