Domains and Wills

[Bob Hawkes]

Can someone provide information on whether any steps need to be taken with respect to wills and domain name portfolios. i.e. if one has a will, and it leaves things in general to a spouse (or whoever) is that all that is needed for her to be able to take ownership of domains legally. Obviously it works best if she has control of the password for the registrar accounts where they are held. Or does the will need to make specific that the ownership of the domains is to go to person x?

Thanks for any help and/or links.

Bob

ps Don't read anything into this message. Just being prudent at my age!

 

[jberryhill]

Couple of things going on here...

First off, the laws of inheritance and the convenience of procedures to implement wills vary significantly by jurisdiction. US states differ markedly, and by your avatar, I imagine that the law of no US state is applicable to you. The second layer on top of this is the uneven recognition of domain names as property that would be subject to a will in the first place. The third complication is what, if any, procedures your registrar (likely in another jurisdiction) would or would not have for recognizing, say, letters of estate administration from some other jurisdiction.

On a very general level, it doesn't hurt to have something in your will for whatever that may be worth, but as you point out, having a prompt means to effectively access and control the relevant registrar account(s) is of more practical importance.

Depending on your circumstances, it can be simpler to administer your domain names through a business entity such as a corporation or LLC, and to have provisions for assuming control of the company. Unlike people, companies don't die unexpected or inconvenient deaths, and so there is no "dead registrant" problem requiring an authorized company officer from assuming control of the relevant accounts.

There was a situation with which a number of registrars are familiar from a few years back in which a gentleman was apparently registering vast numbers of domain names and PPC accounts in his mother's name as what appeared to be a tax dodge. Upon her death, various siblings of his found out about the domain names, and a tedious and time consuming dispute arose between him and his siblings over control of the domain names, with the various registrars and PPC providers wanting nothing more than to not be in the middle of a dispute as bitter as only an intra-family one can be. Consequently, various service providers updated their terms of service, which is likely the first place you should look for clues about how they may react to receipt of various official documents on the occasion of your demise.

 

[jberryhill]

Obviously it works best if she has control of the password for the registrar accounts where they are held.

Sure. As long as you don't both do things like travel in automobiles together such that you would be subject to a common fatal event.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

Thank you @jberryhill for such a clearly explained and detailed response. If it gets that the portfolio is worth a significant amount, it probably makes sense to set up a company as you suggest. If one had significant, but sporadic, sales there would also be tax advantages I guess from being able to even out income that way.

As your added note implies, it probably makes sense to put together the information in writing somewhere that is accessible to other family members.

I will do a bit more reading on Canadian wills and estates, but thanks again for the time to respond. If any Canadians on the list have had experience related to this, I would welcome any advice. Thanks again.

 

[jberryhill]

Zak Muscovitch is a Canadian attorney who is quite accomplished in domain names and estate planning. www.muscovitch.com

 

[Bob Hawkes]

For those who have not heard, it appears that the owner of the many blockchain domains that have auctioned for large amounts this week at GoDaddy was this woman, who passed away suddenly at age 50 while walking her dog. It seems she was an amazing woman who raised one million dollars for charity, and obviously had foresight to see how big blockchain would be. It is sad that she passed so young, and that her estate apparently did not maintain or sell the domain names. Shows the importance of having a plan in place, and loved ones who know the domains that you own and how to sell or manage them.

http://www.recordonline.com/article/20170331/OBITUARIES/303319989

(ps I believe this information is correct, but am going from a posting in other NP threads that this was the same woman. If it is not correct, please let me know and I will edit it.)