What happens to DreamHost domains when the owner dies

No. DreamHost's article asks for a copy of the document that gives you authority over the DreamHost account or the estate, "such as a will, trust, or applicable probate ruling." That is a materially lower bar than the court order some cloud-storage providers require. Where the account owner was under 18, a birth certificate verifying age and the parental relationship replaces that document and a power of attorney is not required.

DreamHost has no call-in telephone number. The only way to speak with an agent directly is to request a callback from the panel, available during normal local business hours seven days a week; callbacks are included with Dedicated Server plans (3 per month), DreamPress Plus (3 per month), and DreamPress Pro (5 per month), and are otherwise a paid add-on at $9.95 one-time or $14.95 per month for three. Estate documentation does not go through a call in any case -- it goes by email to verifications@dreamhost.com, by fax to 714-671-9098, or by mail to DreamHost Web Hosting, Attn: Abuse Team, PMB #327, 417 Associated Rd., Brea, CA 92821.

DreamHost states that if the registration's domain registration contact information displays your contact information with a verifiable email address, the registration is yours and you can choose to have it moved to your own account. If the registration contact information does not show you, DreamHost states it is not able to release the name to you and can release it only to the verified estate receiver, from whom you would then have to obtain it.

No. DreamHost treats the registration and the hosted content as separate things. In the scenario where a site owner holds the registration but the files sit in someone else's DreamHost account, DreamHost will remove the domain from that account so it can be added elsewhere, but states that doing so does not provide access to the website files, which remain inside the other person's account -- access to those has to come from the estate receiver. The practical consequence for an executor is to request account access and take backups of files, databases, and mailboxes, not just move the names.

Websites and mailboxes depend on the hosting plan. DreamHost restricts panel access once a balance is 30 days past due and suspends the account for non-payment after a 60-day grace period from the invoice date, and billing reminders go only to the account's primary email address. If a domain registration itself expires, DreamHost states the services associated with it -- the website, email service, and so on -- stop working. A canceled Professional Email plan is the gentler case: service continues through the end of the current billing term and the plan can be reactivated any time before that term ends, but not after. Domain registrations are the durable piece: any registration already purchased stays active for the rest of its registration period even if the account is closed.

DreamHost holds an expired standard .com, .net, .org, or .info registration for a 30-day grace period, during which it can be renewed at the regular price through the panel. DreamHost then releases it to the registry, which places it in a 30-day redemption period and will return it only for a registry redemption fee plus a one-year renewal charge. After that comes a pendingDelete period, during which the registration can no longer be redeemed, and then release to the public. Renewal reminder emails start four weeks before the expiration date, and ICANN reminders go out four weeks and one week before, with a final notice on the expiration date. Not all TLDs offer the 30-day grace period -- non-standard and some foreign extensions follow their own registry policy.

DreamHost states that any domain registrations previously purchased continue to remain active for the rest of their registration periods, and that you can still log into the panel and manage them as before. When closing an account you select which services and domains to keep, and any outstanding balance must be paid first. If a free domain registration credit was used you are asked to pay for that registration before closing, which lets you close the account while keeping control of the name -- except where the registration is within 30 days of expiring, in which case DreamHost states you will not be billed for it. A closed account can be reactivated by contacting support.