Who owns my domain if my web designer registered it?

The short answer

The owner of a domain is the registrant, the person or company named in its registration record. If your web designer signed up for the domain in their own name, they are the registrant, even if you paid for it. You can check this in about a minute, and you can fix it, but the fix is far easier before a dispute than during one.

ICANN, the body that sets the rules for domain names, calls the owner the Registered Name Holder. Its transfer policy gives that holder specific rights, including the right to the code needed to move the domain to another registrar. Those rights belong to whoever is listed, not to whoever paid the invoice.

How to check who is listed as the owner

Start with ICANN's own lookup tool at lookup.icann.org. ICANN says it uses RDAP "to query, parse, and display registration data in a human-friendly format" (ICANN). Type in your domain and read three things: the registrar, the status, and the registrant.

1. Registrar. This is the company that holds the registration, such as a domain seller. It is not necessarily the owner. It is the company you will contact to make changes.
2. Status. The record lists codes such as a transfer lock. Note what it says before you ask for anything.
3. Registrant. This is the owner. Privacy rules mean some personal data may be redacted, so you may see a placeholder instead of a name.

A redacted record does not prove your designer owns the domain, and it does not prove you do. ICANN says the tool shows publicly available data and that some personal data may be hidden. The way to settle it is to log in. If you can sign in to the registrar account and see the domain under your own email, you control it. If the only login belongs to your designer, they do.

What you are entitled to once you are the owner

The policy says registrars must provide the Registered Name Holder with the unique "AuthInfo" code. That is the transfer authorization code, sometimes called an EPP or auth code. The new registrar asks for it before it will accept the domain. Where the registrar does not give the holder its own tools to generate the code, the policy sets a limit of five calendar days from the holder's request (ICANN).

In plain terms: if you are the registrant, you can ask the registrar for the code and move the domain. If you are not, the registrar will deal with whoever is.

The 60-day lock that surprises people

This catches the common case. A designer registered the domain in their name. You ask them to hand it over. That handover is a change of registrant, and the policy says the registrar must impose a 60-day inter-registrar transfer lock afterward. During the lock you cannot move the domain to a different registrar.

There is a way around it. The policy says the registrar may allow the holder to opt out of the lock before the change of registrant request. That choice sits with the registrar, so ask about it first. ICANN's older policy page carries the same lock language and points to the newer version, so read the current one.

The lock only stops moving the domain between registrars. Plan for it so a handover does not land in the middle of a launch.

If your designer will not hand it over

• Ask in writing. Name the domain, say you paid for it, and ask to be made the registrant. Keep the reply.
• Ask the registrar what proof they accept. Registrars decide how they verify a change. We have not verified any one registrar's process, so ask yours.
• Do not let it expire. If the renewal is on the designer's card, a missed payment can take your site offline. Ask who pays and when it renews.
• Copy your settings first. Your site, booking forms and email may depend on records tied to the domain. Save them before any change.

A short message is usually enough: "Please confirm who is listed as the registrant for our domain, and make me the registrant under my business email. Please also tell me which registrar holds it and send the login details so I can manage renewals myself." Most designers who registered a domain for convenience will agree. The ones who hesitate have told you something about the working relationship.

Whatever the answer, write down the date you asked and who replied. If you ever need to raise it with the registrar, a clear paper trail is the first thing they will want to see.

What to ask before any designer builds your site

This is the checklist we use. It costs nothing to ask and removes the problem.

If a designer wants to register the domain for you "to keep things simple," ask them to do it under your name instead. It is the same amount of work for them.

Where Cinemora fits

We are a remote studio for video editing, AI video, websites and AI automations. We put the domain in the client's own name from day one. Every service starts free, and for websites that means a free website check with a homepage mockup. One-page websites start from $100, and bigger sites are quoted after the free mockup.

How this guide was madeDrafted with AI assistance at Cinemora from the sources linked in this guide, read on 2026-10-28. Every number appears on its source; prices change, so check the source before you decide.