1. A system for preserving access to previous versions of directories and files stored in a processor-accessible storage system, the system comprising: at least one memory; at least one computer processor; a plurality of metadata structures logically arranged in a hierarchical structure and stored on the at least one memory, each metadata structure corresponding to a file or directory of a file system and comprising a governance list, the governance list configured to store two or more snapshot identifiers, each snapshot identifier identifying a snapshot governing the corresponding file or directory; and at least one executable software module executed by the at least one computer processor and configured to: access a governance list of at least one ancestor metadata structure of a target metadata structure corresponding to a target file or directory; and determine if the target file or directory is governed by one or more snapshots based on the accessed governance list of at least one ancestor metadata structure.