  Scientific software projects evolve rapidly in their initial development
phase, yet at the end of a funding period, the completion of a research
project, thesis, or publication, further engagement in the project may slow
down or cease completely. To retain the invested effort for the sciences, this
software needs to be preserved or handed over to a succeeding developer or
team, such as the next generation of (PhD) students.
  Comparable guides provide top-down recommendations for project leads. This
paper intends to be a bottom-up approach for sustainable hand-over processes
from a developer's perspective. An important characteristic in this regard is
the project's size, by which this guideline is structured. Furthermore,
checklists are provided, which can serve as a practical guide for implementing
the proposed measures.
