Death & Domains

[Nic]

I was thinking about this the other day.....

What happens to a domain name when someone passes away :dead: ?

Lets say some one has a beaut of a domain *****.com and has the domain renewed till 2010 .

What happens to the domain?

Can someone put a Domain/s in his/her will?

Can a next of kin go up to the registrar and claim it?

 

[DotComster]

Nope - it is gone

Happened to a good freind of mine Erine West, a great web promoter and all out eComerce expert - he died and his domain expired. I got his domain when expired - but just so no one else could use it for a sex site or anything else.

 

[Nic]

sorry to hear about your freinds death.

 

I would think that a domain could be transferred in these circumstances with proper proof of the will/ or even under court order. I guess it depends on the registrar as to how easy it is to have done.

 

[Nic]

I am not being cruel or disrespecful, but this was on my mind.

names like sex.com and others like it are worth a siht load of $$$.
and if GOD forbid the owners would "cash out", who the lleh is the owner now? who gets to administer the domain and the business in that case?

 

well if no will, then the next of kin would get the domain and run it themselves. Its really no different to anything else that the person own's, just that it s little harder to give it the person entitled to it.

 

[DotComster]

I do not know of any relatives of Ernei West - but to them the domain is worthless, and without him they are right but they can get it from me free if they want it.

Truth is we never buy or own domains - just hire or lease them for 10 years at most, this is good in my opinion

 

[Mythios]

I would think also, with proper documentation, a relative can assume the responsibilities of the domain in question. As far as a this matter goes with an organization, the domain would transfer to the group, I would believe, upon an individual registrant's passing. Of course, a member of the organization on the registrant's WhoIs would have to contact the registrar and provide ample proof of the unfortunate circumstances.

 

[DotComster]

Yup - and there is a big diference between unused domains and full websites I think? I'm sure regisrars have a poilicy in place for this.

I also remember that GreatDomain had a listing of it's bigger members. One of them (from Florida) had over 10,000 domains on offer. I had my eye on a few of them but I think his whole list expired. This was over a year ago.

 

[fizz]

This is a good reminder that we should all have a valid will that clearly sets out what is to happen when our time is up :cry:

 

[flex]

Originally posted by Nic
I was thinking about this the other day.....

What happens to a domain name when someone passes away :dead: ?

Lets say some one has a beaut of a domain *****.com and has the domain renewed till 2010 .

What happens to the domain?

Can someone put a Domain/s in his/her will?

Can a next of kin go up to the registrar and claim it?

I ever once thought of this too.
But I didn't think that too deep.

 

Originally posted by DotComster
One of them (from Florida) had over 10,000 domains on offer. I had my eye on a few of them but I think his whole list expired. This was over a year ago.

That is not unusual, probably his credit card died rather than himself.

 

[devolution]

Actually, I have seen a site that, on payment of a small fee, maintains websites/domains after the owner/author of them passes on to the other side!!!

I can't remember the URL at the moment, but I will post it when I do.

Originally posted by Nic
I was thinking about this the other day.....

What happens to a domain name when someone passes away :dead: ?

Lets say some one has a beaut of a domain *****.com and has the domain renewed till 2010 .

What happens to the domain?

Can someone put a Domain/s in his/her will?

Can a next of kin go up to the registrar and claim it?

 

[devolution]

The URL:

http://www.afterlife.org

Originally posted by devolution
Actually, I have seen a site that, on payment of a small fee, maintains websites/domains after the owner/author of them passes on to the other side!!!

I can't remember the URL at the moment, but I will post it when I do.

 

[Nic]

good find Dev. , didn't know such a thing existed

 

[FineE]

This one is both very new and frankly potentially very compilcated. I am not a lawyer and I would strongly suggest a competent estates / wills attorney here

I see the following issues here

As far as I understand it the domain(s) would go into the Estate of the deceased

1) The need for a will and probate / or letters of adminstration

2) The jurisdiction of the deceased

3) The jurisdiction of the registrar

4) The potential for estate taxes, probate fees, deemed dispositions for tax purposes etc.

5) The valuation of the domain for tax purposes. To be blunt It would be to the financial advantage of the estate to seek domain appraisals from many a member of this fourm. But would the tax authorities accept that?

Here is a potential horror story (maybe unless you are a lawyer).

A portfolio of say 500 domains held by a US deceased with a US registrar. I will keep it simple, if you really want to mess this up the deceased will purchase the domains from a registrar in a different country through a reseller in a third country.

The average valuation of each domain is say $10,000 according to great domains, but other expert witnesses, say many a speculator in this forum would say say the domains would average say $10 a name on ebay. Both valid expert witneses in court.

Now do the math

According to the estate the domains are worth $10 x 500 = $5,000 and estate taxes are due on $5,000

But the government says no the domains are worth $5,000,000 and estate taxes are due on $5,000,000.

The matter goes into litigation, and while the lititgation is going on the domains drop. But keep in mind it is the value at the time of death.

Have fun in court...

 

[namedancer]

Not that my domains are worth much, but that will keep me jogging if anything will

 

[Whois-Search]

make your Domain Will .com

Make sure you leave the passwords ! LOL

 

[ad-lib]

My friend was developing a site dedicated to movies. So he randomly ran through the whois and emailed the owners of some premium movie domains. Well, he gets a reply from one lady, whose husband recently died. She says she will sell him the domain Movies.net for $150!

Long story short, he didn't have the money at the time. Was going to contact me to purchase the domain for him and share profits. But we were in an argument so he just passed it up the deal. May not seem like much of a loss. However I greatly disagree. And think that domain, net and all could definately fetch $20,000-$60,000. From that day on I punch him in the head everytime I see him. Bastard!

 

Onyx, why didn't you buy it yourself then?