totally depends on the domain, where it is registered and so forth.
Can your friend not just hand over the username/password with access to the domain?
Can your friend not just hand over the username/password with access to the domain?
For .co.uk you need to get the original registrar to change the IPS tag on the domain to the new registrars value. For .com I think it has to send an email to the admin email address on the domains DNS settings.
Just register the domain with your prefferred company and follow their advice / help.
Again the exact rules are TLD dependant :)