@zebrina ... Welcome to Webmasterworld!

We don't give out legal advice for obvious reasons, but we all have opinions and those are freely shared. Personally I wouldn't coat-tail on a closed business UNLESS I OWNED IT. In some countries this might be seen as deceptive practices. That said, if the CONTENT of the website has been legally transferred to the new business then no problems, just rebrand as needed and proceed.

That said, if the transfer also included the DOMAIN NAME, then likely there are no problems.

However, "essentially be a continuation of the existing business" is problematic if one does not ACTUALLY OBTAIN OWNERSHIP of that prior business.

IF YOU OBTAIN the original domain name in proper fashion you can maintain and redirect that to the NEW domain name and keep any existing traffic from the old business. That also means you will have to keep that old name for possibly YEARS (as a redirect) and will be an on-going overhead cost.

Meanwhile, you might chat with an attorney of your choice to see what they recommend. In matters like this that's not a bad idea!

That also means you will have to keep that old name for possibly YEARS (as a redirect) and will be an on-going overhead cost.

What’s an existing domain these days, $20/year? That doesn’t strike me as significant overhead. And everyone can live on the same server, which should cost nothing extra.

Before sitting down with the lawyer, make sure you find out exactly what’s happening to the old business: Is it truly being dissolved, sold, handed down to heirs who may or may not sell? It could make a difference.

:: unavoidable mental association with church down the street which got a new pastor and for some months had a signboard reading “Same boss, new management” ::

Thanks for the replies. It now seems that they will be using a new domain, which makes more sense really. However, the previous owner wants to keep the old site running (no idea why), with a notice and link to the new business's site. So not being able to use a 302 redirect means there is no way to transfer any kudos with Google from the old site to the new, doesn't it, unless I'm missing something? I'm thinking it could also create issues with duplicate content.

Why would it be a 302 redirect rather than a 301? The old business isn't coming back, is it?

In any case, this sounds like a situation where you want to look from the human end. If established customers go to https://example.old and get a clear message that the business is now happening at https://example.new, they will eventually start going directly to the new site.

Is it possible to sit down and talk directly with the retiring owner and new owner? Make sure there isn't simply some misunderstanding about what can and can't happen with an existing domain.

Oh! And I don't think you ever said whether this is a brick-and-mortar business with a website, or a wholly online business. That too makes a difference.

I meant 301, sorry.