advice Client passed away after buying name from me, still in my account?

[Meland]

I sold a domain name months ago to a Doctor and she was going to use this name for promoting a medical franchise business in Canada. She wanted me to hold the domain name for her as she was very busy and when she was ready to start up her business in the coming months she was going to have me help her set up a registrar account in her name.

After not hearing from her in months I emailed and called, left voice mails, skype, faxed, I tried everything.

I then contacted the medical facility she was the director, as this info was on her emails, they informed me that she had passed away weeks ago and that she had no family as she was an only child, no living relatives that they knew of, no spouse, partner, or business partners??

So here I am with a domain name that someone bought from me in my account
and I am not sure what the proper direction should be in this situation.

What would you do?

 

[wwwweb]

What is the point of this thread, there is nothing you can do with the name. No other doctor would want it, nor are they authorized to take it. You are just going to put it back in your portfolio, and if someone else makes an offer, you are going to sell it. Otherwise let it expire, and delete, and takes it's natural course.

 

[weblord]

yeah i know we're not in the charity business but this time it's one who passed away, it's terrible to make a promise to a dead person not fulfilling it. well the heart is in the right place as well because as you can see if business grows big there are times they set up projects for good causes.. and i can see the OP has the financial abilities to do it then why not?

 

[wwwweb]

yeah i know we're not in the charity business but this time it's one who passed away, it's terrible to make a promise to a dead person not fulfilling it. well the heart is in the right place as well because as you can see if business grows big there are times they set up projects for good causes.. and i can see the OP has the financial abilities to do it then why not?

You don't even know what the domain is, what can be done is auction it off, and make a donation to a charity on behalf of that person.

 

[weblord]

all we know is this

she was going to use this name for promoting a medical franchise business in Canada

then that's why who passed away wants to do with the domain, after all it was all paid for

I sold a domain name months ago to a Doctor

so it belongs to the client not the OP.

 

[Meland]

Again, thank everyone for the comments, I am not trying to stir controversy in any way, and yes I sell domians and I know how the business works. I just wanted to have some feedback from some seasoned domainers,I will take all comments into consideration. Thank you again!

 

[ben pedri]

I sold a domain name months ago to a Doctor and she was going to use this name for promoting a medical franchise business in Canada. She wanted me to hold the domain name for her as she was very busy and when she was ready to start up her business in the coming months she was going to have me help her set up a registrar account in her name.

After not hearing from her in months I emailed and called, left voice mails, skype, faxed, I tried everything.

I then contacted the medical facility she was the director, as this info was on her emails, they informed me that she had passed away weeks ago and that she had no family as she was an only child, no living relatives that they knew of, no spouse, partner, or business partners??

So here I am with a domain name that someone bought from me in my account
and I am not sure what the proper direction should be in this situation.

What would you do?

keep the domain ,if his kin com back looking for it b4 the expiration ,give it to them if they come after,they will have to buy it again.

 

[MadAboutDomains]

@MapleDots said exactly what I was thinking. You're crazy if you think that someone buys domains in anticipation of their own demise. Who does that? Create a website in honour of some random dead person that bought a domain from you online? Donating your money just because someone died. Not keeping promises to the dead or some crazy superstitious talk. They're DEAD! That's just ridiculous... sorry.

Unless you had an agreement that indicated what happens if they die in the mean time, it's fair game if you ask me unless you're asked to give up the domain. Fat chance of that if they don't have any relatives or someone in the business that he/she works for carrying out his/her affairs now that they're gone. They bought it, they asked you to keep it for them in the meantime, they died. Chances are that anyone receiving this name on her behalf won't know what to do with the domain now anyway if the person with the original vision is dead.

All I'd say is that it if it's so much money that you can't live with yourself to just keep the money and the domain, and it's not illegal to do so, or legally binding that it's going to come back to bite you in the future, then you need to work out a way to return the money to their account or somehow have whoever if managing their affairs take delivery of the domain.

I don't really understand where this case for 'charity' comes from, we all need money to survive. People dying doesn't just mean we start donating money away like we're a philanthropist - or because we're going to be haunted.

imho

 

[Ategy]

Since you're aware of the person's death, I'd think your obligation would be to make attempts to get in touch with the executor of the buyer's will since the buyer does legally own the domain (from the moment you accepted the funds).

However .. as @xynames pointed out .. the domain will likely not have any real tangible value to the estate since it would need to be marketed to be resold.

Which leaves you with two choices (maybe offer the choices to the executor):

1- Offer a fair wholesale sum to the estate .. I'm thinking what you originally paid for it would likely be fair. Although you certainly could offer less or more, or even ask the executor to suggest a price.

2- You offer to hold the domain as a broker and/or put it up for auction (and yes .. keep a commission for your time/work).


Then if you aren't able to find the executor, then I'd let it go to expiration .. then 1 day after it expires, renew it yourself. At that point with the owner dead, and you using your own funds to continue to hold it, combined with the efforts above, I'm thinking you've done more than enough, and at that point it would be totally reasonable to keep the domain for yourself.


Ethically, if you do then eventually sell it .. you might want to think about donating the amount you originally paid wholesale (minus what you since paid in renewals) to whatever cause you think the buyer would have wanted to contribute to. But that is completely up to you .. although if you are seeking balance in the universe and your personal karma .. lol .. then that's what I would suggest! That being said .. after the domain expires and you pay for renewal, I really don't see any issues with you keeping all of the money as long as you made a sincere effort to contact the executor.


I'd think your best chance of getting to the right person would be to contact Human Resources of her former employer. They likely needed to transfer her final paycheck to her estate, so they most certainly could help you if there aren't any privacy issues.

 

[Haris]

post it in the free domains forum

https://www.namepros.com/forums/free-domain-names.290/

 

[Name Trader]

If you can find the executor, let them know. If nobody claims it? It's a .net. I'd just drop it on expiry and move on. The only exception might be if it was a single dictionary word .net, or a 2 or 3 char .net. Then. Does it have any value? If yes. Then I'd just pay to renew it since it's already in your name. If no intrinsic value just drop it. Life goes on.

 

[frank-germany]

who is the owner of a domain name?

the one who is shown in the whois records

 

[carob]

If someone bought something from you and you agreed to deliver it later when they wanted it, then that does create an obligation. But I don't think that created an obligation for you to renew the domain - that is basically providing maintenance or storage.

If you contact the executors you could explain that they need to either take possession or pay renewal by the renewal date. After the renewal date if they then have not paid or taken collection then, as someone said, just renew the name and it's yours to do as you like with I'd say.

 

[Josh R]

who is the owner of a domain name?

the one who is shown in the whois records

I hope you never have a domain stolen.

 

[gtldomainer]

Very sad for the buyer but interesting case!

I'd, in that scenario, do either of these:
1. Sell the domain again, donate 80%-90% (whatever is suitable) of the proceeds
2. Donate the name itself, on client's behalf to some charity.

 

[frank-germany]

I hope you never have a domain stolen.

who is the owner of a domain name?
the one who is shown in the whois records

that was my lawyers answer to me
not my opinion
just the facts

 

[Haris]

2. Donate the name itself, on client's behalf to some charity.

Hi, My name is charity.

 

[DomainRecap]

1) Notify the executor, otherwise, you could donate money and then get a call (after they went through her records) asking to have the domain transferred for estate resale.
2) Always remember that legally, this is no longer your domain.
3) If they don't reply or don't care, then follow through with any plan you would like.

 

[mrflapjack]

You own it its mean its yours
but giving some money to charities is best option

 

[Bob Hawkes]

who is the owner of a domain name?

the one who is shown in the whois records

While I do see the logic of this argument @frank-germany, after having taken a contract law MOOC from Harvard (OK disclosure I did not finish it and therefore got a failing grade , twice actually), I think whether the name was changed on Whois records or not, that the courts would say that a contract was completed when the price was negotiated (even if everything is oral) and agreed on and the money changed hands, and that the estate is now the owner. Just my (non-legal) opinion based on my possibly limited understanding.

Re @MapleDots earlier point about not chasing customers, of course for business efficiency that must be true to some degree. However, if here there was an oral agreement to change the ownership registration at a future time (I think that is what the OP said) then I think the courts would expect a reasonable effort to identify and contact the executor as the standard. (again non-legal opinion).

JMHO

Bob

 

[Armageddon]

Give some charity behalf of her

 

[carob]

While I do see the logic of this argument @frank-germany, after having taken a contract law MOOC from Harvard (OK disclosure I did not finish it and therefore got a failing grade , twice actually), I think whether the name was changed on Whois records or not, that the courts would say that a contract was completed when the price was negotiated (even if everything is oral) and agreed on and the money changed hands, and that the estate is now the owner. Just my (non-legal) opinion based on my possibly limited understanding.

I'm assuming you're right there about the courts. But for registrars, ICANN rules for .com apply which say the owner is the registrant.

The significance is a domain with registrant as person A can be in a registrar account owned/controlled by person B. Can A get the domain out of the account and into their full control without the consent of B? Yes, person A just tells the registrar they must push or transfer the domain to them and they do, as long as they are satisfied with one of the proof of identity choices offered by ICANN. (It used to be the account holder could just change registrant to anyone they wanted, but now they need consent from the email addresses of old and new registrant to change the registrant.)

In the real world, if a web developer passed away with client names in their personal account, clients could force the registrar to hand over the names which had the client as the registrant. Obviously they need to do that to stop the names expiring.

It is not hypothetical, I have seen it done. Needs to quote ICANN rules to get a result.

 

[TauseefKhan]

every transaction has two sides: debit and credit. When you've received the funds. You have passed an entry debiting bank/cash and crediting the buyer. And, you're supposed to pass another entry by crediting the goods/domain and debiting the buyer. (Unfortunately, it didn't happened).
In this case, you should return the money from where it's originated. Or you must transfer the domain to the rightful heir. Until, that happened, you need to keep track of interest too you may accumulate on that sum. Anyway, consulting a lawyer would be really nice.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

Thanks for useful background, @carob. I agree that by default the registrant is the owner. I think however that courts would feel that contractual ownership should take priority if it can be established.
For example eNom say this

" if you are able to provide us with a court order demonstrating you have rights to this domain, our Legal department is more than happy to comply and will work directly with you to sort things out."​

https://www.enom.com/kb/kb/kb_1007_My-name-is-not-on-the-whois.htm

 

[carob]

Thanks for useful background, @carob. I agree that by default the registrant is the owner. I think however that courts would feel that contractual ownership should take priority if it can be established.
For example eNom say this

" if you are able to provide us with a court order demonstrating you have rights to this domain, our Legal department is more than happy to comply and will work directly with you to sort things out."​

https://www.enom.com/kb/kb/kb_1007_My-name-is-not-on-the-whois.htm

Yes I agree with you there - it's just that you'd have to go to court to get the order, whereas if you are the registrant you just say hand it over and they do.

 

[james haw]

Meland,
It's great to see some genuinely good morals in business

I think you should try to contact whoever is in charge of their estate, as for me (whether legally or just morally) they own the domain name as much as their physical possessions in their home which have to be managed just the same.

That said, I wouldn't spend a great deal of your time as even if there's a family member receiving the deceased's belongings, they probably wont do anything with a domain name. By that I don't mean so don't feel bad keeping it as you're better off with it - it belongs to whoever it belongs to. I simply mean that if you can't contact anyone, then it's only a domain name and no-one is likely to "miss" it very much, different to say something with sentimental value etc where you should perhaps try a great deal more to contact someone.

If you can't pass it on to a beneficiary, I suggest just doing with it the same as you did previously, and this time you can even advertise for a lower price as you have already sold it once.

I think I have given fair advice, and a lot of others have given good advice too, but at the end of the day, only you have to live with the decision, so do whatever you feel is right. Even if that is spending many hours over months trying to find a legitimate beneficiary.