Start with an inventory. Make a list of every account that can change the site or interrupt the business: domain registrar, DNS, hosting, CMS, email, analytics, Search Console, payment provider and code repository. Record the account holder, recovery email, renewal date and who can access it.
Ask for a complete handover
Request administrator access in your own name, current backups, the latest site files and database, a list of paid themes or plugins, renewal dates, and any deployment or maintenance instructions. Ask the developer to identify custom code and third-party services. Keep the request and replies in writing, and preserve your contract and invoices.
Change control carefully. First secure the recovery email and domain account, enable two-step verification, then review other users and remove only accounts you no longer authorize. Export a backup and test that it can be restored before changing DNS or hosting. Avoid making several infrastructure changes at once.
If you cannot get in
Contact the registrar or hosting provider through its official recovery process. They may ask for evidence that you represent the business. Ownership can depend on the contract, registration details, licenses and local law, so get legal advice if there is a real dispute rather than trying to bypass access controls.
JupiWeb’s €490 business website scope includes a CMS the client can edit; the handover should leave the business able to manage its own content. Use the website security check-up afterward to review backups, updates and account access.