What Happens to Your Domain When You Die?

No matter how many sci-fi films depict it, we won’t be able to achieve eternal life by uploading a digital version of our consciousness to the cloud anytime soon.

This does not mean that you will not leave traces of yourself on the Internet. If you have a website or blog, this can continue as long as the hosting exists and your financial obligations to the site are met, promising a little taste of immortality. But what exactly will happen to your domain if, when you leave this planet to meet this great processor in the sky, there is no one to pay for the content? Will you be able to hand over your corner of the Internet to someone just like physical property? We looked into this and this is what we found.

What happens if you don’t do anything

Unless you plan on transferring your domain to someone else after death, your domain will simply expire at some point. Your hosting company will try to contact you when the time comes to renew your commitment, and if you don’t respond, the domain will go into a grace period, usually followed by a redemption period (during which only the original registrar can make the site live again). It will eventually be removed and made publicly available for purchase by another user.

It might not matter much if your site was just a hobby or something that didn’t have long-term value. If your domain is tied to a profitable or high-traffic site, it makes sense to transfer it to someone else.

Your walkthrough plan

It can be as simple as giving your domain credentials to someone you trust. To formalize the situation, you can contact the estate planning attorney to post this information along with instructions on what you would like to do with your domain after you die. With your username and password, it will be easy for the person who inherits your domain to manage and update it according to your wishes.

The documentation you compose should also state that your legal representative has full authority to access your domain account and make any changes necessary to keep the site running.

By the way, this is a good idea not only for your domain, but for all of your digital assets. Creating a list of account passwords and logins can go a long way in making it easier for the executor of your will to get settled after you leave. To make the process easier, you might consider using a password management app like LastPass or 1Password . This way, you can always update your app login credentials and grant access during the transition by simply sharing one master username and password.

Plan b

If you do not include your domain in your will or die before you have the opportunity to do so, there is still a chance that family members could take over the domain. Different registrars have different processes for this task, so anyone looking to take over your domain after you pass away will have to do a WHOIS search to find your registrar and then follow the rules for gaining access.

GoDaddy , for example, requires someone wishing to take over a domain after the death of its owner, provide a death certificate in addition to a photo ID, a change request form, and proof that the person requesting the change is the property administrator. In addition, if the domain is owned by a company, it will be necessary to provide a government-issued business identity document.

While this may seem like a challenge to ensure that your domain continues to function after you die, it is well worth it for those who replace you. Consider the fact that the domain name Fiona.com sold for $ 75,000 in 2019 . These are major changes for the beneficiary and worth protecting.