How do I find out the domain name registration and web hosting for my husband's two websites?

My condolences. I hope you have some support to help you through this time.
Did he pay for stuff from a joint bank account? If so you could look at your bank history. It should at least reveal all your expenditures and when they are due. Then you can go one by one letting them know your husband has passed away and if you are going to take over the account. As for the computer, you could possibly hirer an IT specialist who can help with that. Make copies of death certificate. You will need them for a lot of things. Even shutting down his email. Did he not leave any passwords written down?
If you know who he was paying for the website, I think they would know the password or at least be able to assist you once you show proof of death and some document showing you are executor his property.
Sorry you are going through this. I found this website that may help give you some ideas on what to do.

Thanks, Pandora. I started at the top of the priority list with bank account stuff and then insurance, utility bills, and all the other essentials. I’ve been notifying people and making arrangements and updating accounts for three solid weeks now.

The AARP list is helpful, thanks.

No, he didn’t write down passwords. Not that I can find. I think he kept them on his computer, which is no help unless I know how to get at things on his computer. I don’t. We always utterly respected each other’s privacy. Things weren’t supposed to turn out this way.

What I need at this point is just what I asked for: help figuring out how to locate the domain name registration and web hosting for his websites. Nothing in his checkbook or bank statements for the past four years gives me that information, so I have to come at it some other way. Tomorrow I will comb through credit card bills.

But there must be a way to find out directly, because some people seem able to get this kind of information without seeing our personal financial records. I need to hear from a techie who knows the way to and through stuff like that.

Yes, you can look up the DNS server for a domain, for example on dns.google.com.

Or hosting information, for example on hostingchecker.com

.If you can access your late husband’s computer his browsing history might be helpful. The chrome browser holds this information for 90 days.

Try this “Who is” lookup site.

https://whois.domaintools.com/

Simply type in the full domain name for his site(s), including the .com, and you will get all the registry info, including some contact info that may be helpful.

Ooh, and I just saw that @Zaku posted some useful links too.

Ah, DNS. I think that’s the starting place. Thanks, @Zaku. Also @cookieman. I remember something about whois.

@flutherother, thanks, but his computer is password-protected. He didn’t give me the password. I never gave him mine, either. If I got in, though, how would his browsing history of websites he visited help me know details about his own websites?

. . . ‘whois’ got me started. Not sure what to do next, but I’ve at least opened the door a crack.

I asked my daughter who said the following.
“Is she trying to access the data?
If so she doesn’t need to get into the PC, just take the hard drive out and put it in an enclosure and connect it to her PC
then she can see everything that was on it.
She says you can access his history and even his favorites. Oh, correction, you man not be able to get into the history but faves should be saved. She said it best to take it to a local geek squad because they can access his history.

Whoo, I don’t know about that, @Pandora. Sounds effective, but it might take someone much braver and more confident than I am. But thanks. I did secure his flash drive, which I think had stuff backed up on it, but haven’t tried to look at it yet.

Anyway, I have no idea how things are orqanized. He told me once that his account passwords were in a file with a weird name, but I don’t remember it. He meant to fill me in, but he never did.

Again, what I’m after now is the status of the websites he owned, which I now have to maintain.

@Jeruba Then take it to a geek squad. They should be able to access it for you and I guess reset the password or leave it without a pass word.

I would advise calling in some professional help also rather than making yourself nuts over this. I’m sure they’ve seen much worse than anything they would see on your husband’s computer and not batted an eye. I would humbly suggest that the time for respecting his privacy is past.

I know this is beyond the scope of what you are asking about on this question but what really helped me to learn independence after my Ex left was to find some reliable experts in various fields that I can turn to – and pay – when I need expert help.

Thanks, all. I am not trying to protect my husband’s personal stuff, and I don’t intend to browse in it myself. I just want to find out how to keep the two websites going because they provide my e-mail and some other things.

Yes, I may have to call in the pros. This might be the push I need.

@Jeruba His browser history would give you the email addresses he used then you could read any emails sent from the web host on his computer. There are ways of unlocking a PC and a PC repair shop could probably help if you wanted to do this. Apologies if I’ve misunderstood the problem.

Enter the full website name here https://whois.domaintools.com/ meaning with the .com or .org, etc. It will tell you godaddy or whatever company. Then you can call the company and tell them your husband passed away and you need all the information switched to you.

I guess before you divulge too much you might want to be sure the website can be inherited? I never thought about this before.

It’s true you can remove the information from the computer and then have access to it all in your computer. Then you can see all of his files. It’s not very expensive to do.

Possibly, you can just reset the password somehow. Maybe call HP, Apple, whoever, to find out if that is possible.

I do appeciate all help and all intentions to help. Maybe I’m just not explaining it well. Anyway, before I give up I will certainly enlist some professional assistance.

Meanwhile, there is nothing enlightening in two years’ worth of paid bills and credit card statements.

Folks, don’t do this to your loved ones.

^^ I wish you good luck!!!

Contact his email company maybe? google, msn, whatever it was. Maybe you can get access?

For my domain names I only pay once a year. The company I work for it’s billed once every two years. Are you worried it’s a monthly bill?

His email is through the domain names he owns. So is mine. It would be like, for example, jl at jleslie dot org.

How to find out where they’re registered, etc., so I know when bills are due is exactly my question. Once a year or once every ten years, I am still not going to get the notice unless I can have it sent to me instead of him. I just don’t want to find out the hard way by loss of service.

I’ll take it from here, though, thanks.

Gotcha. Use the Whois site I linked above, type in the email address in full. As long as your husband didn’t put privacy on it, it should say the company under registrant on the first line of the results I think.

I do have enough information now, thank you.