Doc Searls was interviewed on the Guardian Tech Weekly podcast recently and he was talking about branding and company ethos in tech companies and asked rhetorically what will happen to how Apple is run and operates when its driving force, Steve Jobs, dies. It got me thinking? What happens to any company when the driving force dies? I’m not particularly interested in whether Apple can continue to churn out its purportedly esthetic devices once he departs, but I am concerned with what happens to my family should I shed this mortal coil, kick the bucket, become the proverbial ex-blogger, as it were.

So, in maudlin mood, I just checked over the scheme of work that I wrote with my wife and business partner so that we both know what exactly what processes are in place and how the sites all function (and in particular how to access the various sections that generate income to help keep us in Beer, Bombay Mix and Chocolate).

We typed out a summary spreadsheet of all the various registrations and hosting plans for each of our websites, the companies with which each is hosted and registered, details of how to access the control panels and dashboards, the locations of email accounts that invoices and bills are forwarded to, the details of advertising systems and the other ongoing schemes. Until you start listing this stuff, you really don’t know how much there is. Of course, there’s all the Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and business client information to log as well…

Important documents on our computers are all securely encrypted, remotely backed up, passwords stored safely, and data files, photos and such mirrored in the cloud as necessary. Leaving a digital legacy could become the next big legal moneymaker for lawyers after will writing. I’d think setting up a company that helps you collate all of this kind of information and then deposits it encrypted for your next of kin to access after your death along with your last will and testament.

It also occurred to me as I was writing this and talking to my wife about the whole digital legacy issue that should you have a favorite charity, knowing who is in the deceased contacts book and follower lists on social media would give you access to a vast number of people who might donate to that favorite charity rather than sending funeral flowers…or if you’re Ms Big, donating to the Charitable Foundation established on your death. The possibilities are endless and perhaps someone has already established companies to create digital legacy files, but if they haven’t this is definitely one for Dragon’s Den…