Domain, hosting and email: what should be yours and how to check it

Whose name they should be in

The domain, hosting and email of the property should be in your name, and the logins to them should be with you. The domain is the address of the website, the hosting is the place where its files are kept, and email is a mailbox at that address. The three can be with different companies, so each is checked separately.

What should be yours

Whoever holds the following decides whether you can change contractor without losing the website and the email:

• The domain: its holder (the registry calls them the "registrant") should be you or your company, not the contractor.
• The login at the registrar, the company through which the domain is registered and renewed, or at least the right to ask for a transfer in writing.
• The management of the DNS records: they say where the website and the email go.
• The login to the hosting panel and to the website administration, and, if the website is on the contractor's hosting, a written right to a full copy when you part ways.
• The mailboxes, with a list of who uses them.
• A copy of the texts and photos in original quality.

How to ask for this before paying is described in the guide with the seven questions for the contractor, and what is included in the price of a website is in a separate article.

How to check whose name the domain is in

The quickest way is to ask the contractor in writing whose name the domain is in, which registrar it is with and when it expires. To check yourself: the .bg registry is Register.BG, and its website has a "Domain name lookup (WHOIS)". For generic endings such as .com, use ICANN Lookup: the "Registrar" field shows who the registrar is, and the holder's personal details may be hidden for privacy. So a hidden or incomplete name is not proof that the domain is yours. If the answer is late or evasive, check yourself.

If the domain belongs to an agency or a former contractor

Ask in writing for it to be transferred to your name and keep the reply. For .bg, a change of holder is made by a contract between the two parties, notarised or signed with electronic signatures (Register.BG general terms, version of 09.08.2026). Changing registrar for .bg is possible at any time once you have paid the fees at the new registrar.

For generic endings, a transfer between registrars requires a code (authorization code, also called an EPP code), which identifies the holder and protects against unauthorised transfers. According to the ICANN page for domain holders, the registrar provides it within five calendar days of the request. According to the same page, a transfer may be refused within 60 days of registration, after a previous transfer or after a change to the holder's details. If your aim is to change registrar, ICANN advises completing the transfer first and changing the details afterwards. Check the time limits with your registrar.

Email on your own domain and domain expiry

Email on your own domain shows the name of the property, and you decide who has access to the mailboxes, provided they are in an account in your name. It does, however, depend on the domain: when the domain is not renewed, the website and the email on it can stop. The time limits differ:

• generic endings such as .com: ICANN requires the registrar to suspend the domain for up to eight days before deletion; after deletion there are another 30 days for recovery through the registrar, possibly for a fee;
• .bg: if there is no payment, the registry stops maintaining the domain seven days after expiry and releases it for others after 40 days.

For generic endings, renewal reminders go to the holder's email in the registration, and for .bg the contact addresses in the registration must be working throughout the term. Check that these addresses are yours. Registrars may also have their own time limits, so check them with your registrar.

What to write down and keep

Keep the list somewhere you have access to, not only the contractor:

• the registrar and the expiry date of the domain;
• who pays for the renewal and to which email the reminders come;
• where the DNS records are managed;
• the hosting panel: the login address and who has access;
• where the mailboxes are and who uses them;
• where the copy of the texts and photos is.

How it works with ISKA Website

ISKA Website is offered by individual quote. A domain of your own is possible on request; who registers it, whose name it is in and how it is transferred is agreed in the quote.