Estate planning at Bar Harbor Bank
How to protect 15 Bar Harbor Bank accounts — manage beneficiaries in-branch, fund a trust in-branch, and file claims through Bar Harbor Bank's Bar Harbor Wealth Management (trust services, estate planning, and estate settlement)
Bar Harbor Bank & Trust, PO Box 1089, Ellsworth, ME 04605-9963
Bar Harbor Wealth Management (trust services, estate planning, and estate settlement)
Bar Harbor Wealth Management, 90 North Main Street, Concord, NH 03301
Customer Service Center (estate settlement is handled through the branches; Bar Harbor publishes no separate claims department, claims fax, or claims portal)
Bar Harbor Bank & Trust, PO Box 1089, Ellsworth, ME 04605-9963
Bar Harbor Bank has 15 accounts, each with different rules for what happens when the account holder dies. Of those, 11 can name a trust as beneficiary or be retitled into a trust. The right combination of beneficiary designations and trust ownership can keep the entire portfolio out of probate.
Managing beneficiaries at Bar Harbor Bank is straightforward—changes can be made in branch, by mail, and by phone, typically taking 15-30 minutes in branch; longer by mail. Trust funding is also available, allowing families to retitle accounts into the name of a revocable living trust.
Bar Harbor Bank provides specific procedures for both proactive estate planning and filing claims after a death.
Preparing your estate
Beneficiaries and trust funding
How to update beneficiaries in-branch, fund a trust in-branch, and review 15 account types at Bar Harbor Bank.
View details →When someone dies
Death claim process
Contact Bar Harbor Bank's Bar Harbor Wealth Management (trust services, estate planning, and estate settlement) to file a claim. 7-step process, 9 required documents, and contact information for survivors.
View details →Reach Bar Harbor Bank's Bar Harbor Wealth Management (trust services, estate planning, and estate settlement) at 1-888-675-5244 for help with any of these procedures.
Bar Harbor Bank operates in select states, so estate planning procedures may vary by location. Confirm availability in your state before initiating trust funding or account changes.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Existing deposit accounts (checking, savings, money market, CDs) can be retitled to your revocable living trust. Visit a Bar Harbor Bank & Trust branch with your Certification of Trust and trustee identification. The process does not require closing and reopening the account if the same SSN or EIN is used. IRA accounts cannot be retitled to a trust.
Yes. Bar Harbor Wealth Management is the bank's fiduciary arm. It states it can act as your trustee and provide investment management, record keeping, and tax reporting, and it works with revocable, irrevocable, living, self-directed, special needs, testamentary, charitable, and domestic asset protection trusts. On the settlement side it assists the executor or administrator, who is responsible for reviewing and paying the estate's debts, expenses, legacies, and taxes, and it can prepare and file the tax returns due on behalf of the decedent's estate and help manage both probate and non-probate assets. Reach Bar Harbor Wealth Management at 888-675-5244; offices are in Bangor and Ellsworth, Maine, and in Concord, Hanover, Nashua, New London, and Peterborough, New Hampshire.
Sources
Data sourced from Bar Harbor Bank primary sources (22 pages reviewed). How we research.
Bar Harbor Bank & Trust, PO Box 1089, Ellsworth, ME 04605-9963
Bar Harbor Wealth Management (trust services, estate planning, and estate settlement)
Bar Harbor Wealth Management, 90 North Main Street, Concord, NH 03301
Customer Service Center (estate settlement is handled through the branches; Bar Harbor publishes no separate claims department, claims fax, or claims portal)
Bar Harbor Bank & Trust, PO Box 1089, Ellsworth, ME 04605-9963
Estate planning articles
Learn how to protect your Bar Harbor Bank accounts and other assets with trusts, beneficiary designations, and estate planning documents.
