OK I see what you are saying. Yes an encrypted wallet with a lost passphrase for example could stake indefinately and the side stakes could go elsewhere. There is an element of trust I suppose in that you cant guarantee the passphrase is lost, someone (even accidentally) could still have a copy.
It is possible to make true burn addresses that have no possible authentic private key, and that is what I was thinking about, but they cannot stake because they cannot sign the coinstake transaction.
I agree with you on no reply notificatins on steemit, annoying!