Change the owner of a domain name: how a registrant change works

A registrant change puts your domain name in someone else's name, for example your new limited company, your foundation or the buyer of the domain. If the domain stays in your LJPc account, you handle it yourself in the customer portal: create a WHOIS contact for the new owner and select that contact on the domain's page. A .nl domain then moves to the new name right away; for .com and other generic extensions you first approve the change through an email in your portal inbox.

Below you find which route fits your situation, how to change the registrant, which emails to expect per extension and how to hand a domain over to someone with another provider.

What is a registrant change?

The registrant is the legal owner of a domain name. Their name or organisation is recorded by the registry of the extension, such as SIDN for .nl. A registrant change replaces that person or organisation with another one. What WHOIS is and which details are public is explained in how to manage WHOIS data for your domain.

A registrant change is only about ownership. Your website, email, DNS records and nameservers stay as they are, and the domain remains in your LJPc account.

Moved house or got a new phone number? Update that in the WHOIS contact itself. If the name or organisation of the registrant changes, it does count as a registrant change, also when you edit an existing contact.

Which route fits your situation?

Change the registrant in the customer portal

You change the registrant in the Registrant block on the domain's page. That block is visible with the Manage WHOIS contacts permission. If you use a sub-account and do not see the block, ask the main account for that permission. See sub-accounts in the customer portal for how permissions work.

1. Log in to the customer portal.
2. Create a WHOIS contact for the new registrant. In the Services menu choose WHOIS contacts and click New contact. Enter the full name of the company or organisation under Organization and the contact person under Name, fill in the other details and click Save. The required fields are listed in how to manage WHOIS data.
3. In the Services menu choose Domains and click the domain.
4. In the Registrant block, pick the new contact from the list under Change.
5. Click the green Change button. If the change goes through right away, as with a .nl domain, you see the message Registrant changed. If you have to approve it first, as with .com and other generic extensions, you see Request sent: approve it within 15 days via the email in your Inbox and the block keeps showing the current registrant until the change has gone through after your approval.

If the registry of the extension needs more details about the new registrant, the block Additional details required appears after step 4. Fill in the fields and click Save and change.

Moving all your domains to the new name, for example because your whole business becomes a limited company? Then edit the existing WHOIS contact once with the pencil icon under WHOIS contacts. The change applies to every domain linked to that contact.

What happens next, per extension

For a .nl domain the registrant has changed after step 5. For .com and other generic extensions your request has been sent, and the registrant only changes after you approve. Email about the change arrives under Inbox in the customer portal, because every WHOIS contact you create in the portal uses your portal inbox as its email address. See the customer portal guide for how the inbox works.

Approving a change for .com and other generic extensions

These extensions follow an ICANN rule: both the current and the new registrant approve before the registrant's name or organisation changes. Because both contacts are in your account, the request comes to you.

1. Click Inbox in the portal menu. A red number shows you have an unread message.
2. Open the registrant change request for yourdomain.com. It lists the details of the current and the new registrant. If you edited a contact that several domains use, all those domains are in the same email.
3. Click the link in the email and approve.

You have 15 days. The deadline in the email is in UTC, which is one hour behind Dutch time in winter and two hours in summer. Without approval the change does not go through and the current registrant stays in place. After you approve, you receive a notice that the registrant details have been updated. Cannot find the approval email or has the deadline passed? Contact support.

Transferring after a registrant change: the 60-day lock

After a registrant change on a generic extension, the domain may be locked against transfers to another provider for 60 days. The notice you receive after approving tells you whether that lock applies to your domain. Does the new owner also want to move the domain to another provider? Transfer it first and let the new provider change the registrant afterwards, as ICANN also recommends. This lock does not apply to .nl.

Handing a domain over to someone with another provider

1. Agree on what happens to the website and email on the domain. If they move too, have the new owner set them up with their provider first. The right order is in get your EPP code and transfer your domain.
2. Open the domain in the portal. If the domain has a transfer lock, set Transfer lock to Off in the Domain overview block. Copy the transfer code from the Authorization code block.
3. Give the transfer code to the new owner. They request the transfer with their own provider and have the domain put in their name there.
4. Keep an eye on your portal inbox. For some extensions the registry asks the current registrant to confirm the transfer.

Once the transfer is complete, we end the subscription for that domain's registration, so you do not need to cancel it yourself. What else to cancel, such as your hosting package, is explained in domain name or website: what to cancel and when it stops.

Taking over a domain from someone else

Buying or receiving a domain that is currently with another provider? Ask the current owner for the transfer code. With that code you transfer the domain to LJPc; the steps and how to follow the transfer are in transfer your domain to LJPc. Once the transfer is complete, check who the registrant is in the Registrant block on the domain's page. If it still shows the previous owner, change the registrant with the steps above.

At LJPc you manage the registrant of all your domains yourself in the portal, whenever it suits you, and every message from the registry arrives in one place. Not sure which route fits your situation? Get in touch and we will gladly think it through with you.