- Expiry reminders go to the owner’s email. If nobody reads it, a domain can lapse unnoticed.
- For .com, .net and .org, there is a 30-day Redemption Grace Period after deletion. For .uk, the owner can renew up to 90 days after expiry.
- Nominet cancels a .uk domain if the executor doesn’t transfer it within a year of the death.
- Registrars handle death cases themselves. GoDaddy publishes a document list; Cloudflare asks owners to leave instructions.
A domain name stays registered only while someone renews it. When the owner dies, the inbox that receives the renewal reminders often goes unread, and the card on file may be stopped. Months later the website goes dark and the name can be lost.
Set it up now
- Record every domain and where it is registered. Add the registrar, the hosting company, the renewal date and what each site is for to your digital asset inventory.
- Check auto-renew and the payment card. Auto-renew works only while the card does. Some banks stop all payments out once told of a death (Starling, for example). Note the expiry dates so your executor knows how long they have.
- Leave instructions. Cloudflare advises owners to “Create clear instructions for domain or account management”. Put them in your letter of instruction, including who should get each domain.
- Use the official transfer route for .uk. Nominet’s terms say a transfer has effect only if it follows Nominet’s published process. A will on its own does not move a .uk domain.
- WordPress.com has no legacy feature. Some owners add a trusted person as an administrator while alive, an idea from community forums rather than WordPress.com policy.
If someone has died
First, stop it expiring
- Find the renewal dates. Look for registrar and hosting charges on bank and card statements, and in any notes the person left.
- Contact the registrar early and ask how to keep the domain renewed while the estate is sorted out.
- Download a backup of any website before stopping the card that pays for hosting, because the site may go offline.
How expiry works for .com, .net and .org
ICANN’s Expired Registration Recovery Policy covers generic domains such as .com, .net and .org. Registrars must send the registrant reminders, for example by email, about one month and one week before expiry, and at least one more within five days after.
After expiry the domain must stop working for at least the last eight days in which it can still be renewed. Once the domain is deleted, the registry must offer a 30-day Redemption Grace Period, during which the original registrant can restore it. After that it can be lost.
How expiry works for .uk
The .uk rules are separate, and ICANN’s lock and recovery policy don’t apply. The current registrant can renew a .uk domain up to 90 days after it expires, and deletion and re-release follow at about 95 days.
Nominet adds a firm deadline for executors. Under clause 10.3 of its terms, a dead person’s .uk domain will be cancelled if the person legally appointed to deal with their estate doesn’t transfer it, to themselves or someone else, within a year of the death (or the end of their appointment, whichever comes first). A Registrant Transfer costs £10 plus VAT at the time of writing (October 2026), and the new registrant has five days to accept. Nominet doesn’t publish which documents it wants from an executor, so ask its support team ([email protected]).
Changing the owner: the 60-day lock
For generic domains, ICANN’s Transfer Policy treats a change to the registrant’s name, organisation or email as a “Material Change”. Afterwards, the registrar must currently apply a 60-day lock that stops the domain moving to another registrar, unless the registrar let the owner opt out beforehand.
On 7 June 2026 ICANN’s Board adopted policy recommendations that include removing this lock, but we found no date for when the change takes effect, and as of October 2026 it is still in the live policy. Check with your registrar whether it applies. ICANN’s FAQ on ownership changes doesn’t cover death; each registrar runs its own process.
What registrars ask for
- GoDaddy requires all four of: the “Regain Access To My Account” form with the estate administrator as requester, legal documentation naming the estate administrator, a copy of the death certificate, and colour photo ID of the requester showing name, signature and expiry date. Allow up to 72 hours for a first reply.
- Cloudflare publishes no document list. It says that if no instructions are available on how to access a deceased person’s account, it “may be able to assist you”.
- WordPress.com: email [email protected] with the deceased’s name or account email, the site URL, an explanation and the action you want. A transfer needs the death certificate plus either a legal-authority document or a signed, notarised statement. The family can then post a memorial, make the site private, delete it or manage billing.
- Others: we found no published process for Namecheap or Squarespace Domains, and each host has its own rules. Contact their support.
If a domain carries a business or has value, a solicitor or attorney can confirm who is entitled to it before you transfer it.
Then carry on with closing accounts in order, and see subscriptions and recurring payments for hosting and other renewals.