I picked up this idea while reading an article at Performancing addressing blogs, but the points are the same for regular non-blog sites. Andy, who wrote that article, found his inspiration from a WebmasterWorld post on this topic. I’ll allow you to browse his article for that link (it’s only fair to him!)

When you die and leave this earth, what do you have planned for your websites and online business? Will your family be able to take over the reins in stride, or will they not even know where to begin?

I’ve got to be honest: if I was not with the living tomorrow, my family wouldn’t know how to pick up the ball with my sites at all. Frankly, they wouldn’t know where to begin.

With it being a new year, perhaps addressing this issue is something we should all give attention to. I’ll be consolidating my sites and documenting everything about them: hosts, bills, revenue, logins, etc. If you’re even more of age than myself, consider adding these items to a will and/or delegating whether the sites should be maintained or sold after your death.

There are certainly many issues to consider and no one way to do it.

But for your family’s financial future, it’s worth the time to set down and give this a look. Every good business has a fall back plan if the primary owner dies (remember Corey Rudl?), why shouldn’t your Internet business?