I paid for my website. What should the agency hand over?

Your new website is online and the invoice is paid. You have a login that lets you edit text. Is that the whole handover?

It depends on what you bought. A custom site, a hosted website-builder service and a managed subscription can have different transfer and access arrangements. Start with the agreement instead of assuming payment automatically transfers every asset and account.

Separate three things you might mean by “mine”

Ownership concerns the rights in particular work. A licence concerns permission to use it under conditions. Access concerns whether you can actually manage the relevant accounts or files.

You may have permission to use a stock image without owning its copyright. You may own custom work but lack the credentials needed to deploy it. You may have a website-builder account without a portable copy that runs elsewhere.

For a jurisdiction-specific example, the UK Intellectual Property Office's guidance explains that commissioning a copyright work does not automatically make the commissioner its first owner. Check your agreement's assignment or licence terms and any payment conditions. Do not extrapolate that example into a verdict on every site or jurisdiction.

Build an account-and-asset checklist

Use this as a request list, then adapt it to the service you actually bought:

ICANN's registrant information is a useful starting point for understanding domain registration responsibilities. A domain renewal, a hosting bill and a maintenance fee are separate items; ask who handles each one.

Test what you can do, not just what you received

Arrange a short handover session. Can someone on your side sign in using an account they control, make an agreed harmless edit and find the support and renewal details? Can your next provider understand what is needed to maintain or move the site?

If files are included, ask what they contain and what else is required. For WordPress, its official backup guidance distinguishes database and file backups. A content export should not be assumed to be a complete recovery package.

For a hosted platform, ask about its actual export and transfer options. If some functionality cannot move, find out before cancelling the platform subscription. A handover checklist should expose those limits, not promise portability the platform does not provide.

Settle the loose ends before ending support

Identify open fixes, the support end date, renewal dates and any transfer fee described in the agreement. Ask what happens to agency-owned licences or shared infrastructure when the relationship ends. Record whether replacements are required and what they cost.

Do not shut down the old service before a migration or replacement has been checked. Account changes can affect email, forms or other connected services as well as the visible website. Use an agreed plan with the responsible provider, rather than changing everything at once because the design looks finished.

Transfer access through appropriate account invitations or a secure credential-sharing method. Avoid requesting the agency's shared master password; you need the right access to your service, not access to its other clients.

Send a concrete handover request

Adapt this fictional email:

Could we schedule the handover for [date]? Please confirm the accounts and assets included under our agreement, any non-transferable licences, recurring charges and the end of support. I'd like us to verify access, receive the agreed files or exports, and identify the backup and recovery process before we close the project. Please flag any requested item that is outside the agreed scope with the relevant term and proposed cost.

If the disagreement is about what was promised, Contracts.money can provide an AI read of the supplied PDF or DOCX with that question in context. It does not inspect the live site, recover accounts or perform a migration.

If you have not chosen a supplier yet, use the quote-comparison worksheet to ask these questions before buying. If wording is unclear, the clarification-email guide can help you request a specific answer.