If you don’t have a continuity plan, now is the time to develop one.

Every domain name investor should have a plan. Not a plan they hope to enact themselves, nor a plan that they hope is put to use anytime soon. They need a plan that their loved ones can use should something happen to them.

Over the years, we’ve seen beloved domain investors die, often way before their time. In addition to dealing with loss, their families have to figure out what to do with one of their biggest assets: domain names.

Domain names aren’t like other assets; they are illiquid and little-understood by the general public.

That’s why all domain name investors should have a continuity plan in place for whoever will deal with their domain name portfolio when they pass.

The Covid-19 pandemic is a reminder that any of us could have an untimely death. It’s a morbid topic, but one to think about.

I set up continuity plans for each of my businesses and share them with my wife. It’s been a long time since I’ve updated these plans, and the pandemic was enough to nudge me into action. These continuity plans will help my wife if I die, and also help if I’m not able to run my businesses for a few weeks.

The plans include:

• Information on my business bank accounts
• Contact details for our accountant and web developer
• Information about other key accounts, such as hosting services and payroll accounts

Specific to domain investors, my continuity plan lists people that my wife should call should I die. It doesn’t make sense for me to burden her with details about all of my domains and what to do with them. Instead, I instruct her to contact specific people who can help her sort through this. For my domains, this includes trusted contacts at GoDaddy as well as a couple of people in the domain industry that I trust immensely. I also recommend who my wife should contact for assistance selling Domain Name Wire.

If you have a very valuable portfolio, listen to this podcast to understand some estate planning you should undertake.

I also walk my wife through the plan so she can ask questions. I’m sure I’ve forgotten about things that will be important to know.

A best practice is to do these plans on paper rather than saving them to a computer that can be hacked. Store your plan in a safe or safe deposit box at your bank.

This isn’t a fun thing to think about, but now is a good time to create or update your plan. Use the extra time you have stuck at home to develop your continuity plan. And let’s hope you never need to use it.