armstrong said:
There's legal precedent treating domains as property.
Only to California-based users at least, based on the sex.com case.
Registrars don't care what goes on behind the lives of domain owners. All they
know (and care about) is the domains are in their systems for however long
they're registered for.
If the registrant dies, someone has to notify the registrar of such if s/he's to
gain access to it. Depending on the registrar, they might ask the person to fax
"proof" of their claims.
Let's say I leave a will where my wife will claim ownership of the domain name
upon my death. When that eventually happens (and I hope it's not anytime
soon, knock on wood), my wife will contact the registrar and explain what had
happened.
More often than not, the registrar might ask my wife to fax a letter requesting
access to the domain name along with my death certificate, a copy of the will
bequeathing my domain to her, and a photocopy of her state-issued ID (like a
driver's license). This, of course, is all assuming the domain name hasn't been
deleted due to expiration yet.
Just ask your registrar what to do in case this happens. Then prepare for that
accordingly.