One of my friends passed away in 2020. Shortly thereafter, an imposter hijacked one of her writing blogs. She reformatted it, put her own likeness (or who knows, maybe it’s even a false likeness) on it, and took credit for all of Donna’s books, and claimed Donna’s reputation as a speaker and editor as her own. A mutual friend who is a computer technician reported it to the blog’s host, but nothing was ever done about it.

Another friend started a blog with her name in the web address a few years ago and worked hard on it for a several months, but circumstances in her life changed and she set it aside and forgot about it. I looked it up one day, and it had morphed into a porn website. I immediately sent my friend an email, but she learned that since she no longer owns the domain, there was no action she could take against the usurper. She just hopes no one comes across it online while searching for things she’s written.

There’s a couple of lessons here.

First, don’t just abandon your blog. Some evil person may hack in and set up shop, turning your website into something you never intended or something that harms your reputation. If you decide to give up your blog, take it down. In WordPress, that option exists in the General Settings menu, all the way at the bottom.

Second, decide what you want to happen to your website when you die—and tell your family or include it in your will or in the instructions to the executor of your estate. Do you want it to live forever on the web? That means someone is going to have to pay the yearly blog plan and domain renewals—make provisions for that. Do you want only family or friends to have access to it? Someone will have to set that up, too. Do you want someone to take it over? Plan for that now. In my case, I would like my blog to remain up for the current term of my plan, and then I want someone to delete it for me. (I need to mention that in my final instructions to my family.)

Have I sent you into a complete state of panic? Have no fear. Take a deep breath. Here’s some help from the internet.

• If the website in question is a WordPress blog, they’ve laid out a process by which someone can execute your (or their) wishes for the blog. If you use a different blogging platform, find out what their process is.
• The Digital Legacy Association has a helpful guide for determining what to do with your website in the event of your death.
• The Deliberate Mom blog posted an interesting article about things to consider when deciding what to do about your blog after you die. I like the idea about writing you own “final post” and giving your trusted someone directions on how to publish it.