What to do when a CPB account holder dies
Contact CPB's Trust and Asset Management Division — 8-step process, 8 required documents, and joint and pod (informal trust) accounts pass automatically and are typically released within days once cpb has the certified death certificate and the claimant's id; accounts that need letters move at the speed of the hawaii probate court. a frozen account stays frozen until cpb has proof "satisfactory to us" of each claimant's right to the funds.
Customer Service Center
Central Pacific Bank, P.O. Box 3590, Honolulu, HI 96811
Trust and Asset Management Division
Central Pacific Bank, Trust and Asset Management, 220 South King Street, Honolulu, HI 96813
Customer Service Center (estate notification) / Trust and Asset Management (estate settlement)
Central Pacific Bank, P.O. Box 3590, Honolulu, HI 96811
After an account holder at CPB dies, accounts with beneficiary designations or trust ownership transfer to the designated recipients without probate. Solely-owned accounts require the estate's representative to contact CPB's Customer Service Center (estate notification) / Trust and Asset Management (estate settlement) at 1-808-544-0500 with the proper legal authority documents.
Death claims at CPB can be started through an online portal, which streamlines the initial notification and document upload. Phone and mail options are also available.
Deposit, investment & retirement accounts
To file a claim after an account holder's death, here is what CPB requires:
Filing a claim
- It may freeze, offset, refuse, and reverse deposits and transactions -- including Social Security, VA, pension, and other government or retirement benefit payments payable to the deceased. Benefit money that arrives after the date of death is routinely pulled back, so do not spend it
- It may pay checks drawn on or before the date of death for up to 10 days after death, unless someone claiming an interest in the account orders a stop payment -- if the decedent left checks outstanding that the estate should not honor, call in a stop payment inside that window
- If it has any question about who owns the funds, it may freeze all or part of the account until it receives proof "satisfactory to us" of each person's right to the money
- Certified copy of the death certificate
- Your government-issued photo ID
- The decedent's account numbers, if you have them
- Joint account: the deceased owner's share passes automatically to the surviving owner(s), subject to the bank's freeze, offset, and reversal rights
- POD / Informal Trust account: the funds pass automatically to the named beneficiaries who survive the last surviving owner, in EQUAL shares unless CPB's records say otherwise. If no named beneficiary survives, Hawaii law determines ownership
- CD: the early withdrawal penalty is waived on the death of an owner, so the CD can be closed before maturity without forfeiting interest
- IRA: the beneficiary completes the IRA claim and distribution election forms; a $50 IRA transfer fee applies to move an inherited IRA to another custodian, and $12 per check for a distribution taken by check
- No beneficiary and no joint owner: open probate and bring Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration, or use Hawaii's small estate route -- the HRS § 560:3-1201 affidavit for personal property up to $100,000 (motor vehicles transfer regardless of value), or clerk-administered summary administration under HRS § 560:3-1205 for a total estate not exceeding $100,000
- Trust-titled (Formal Trust) account: the successor trustee presents the trust agreement or Certification of Trust plus ID -- CPB is custodian only and will require whatever authorization documents it deems necessary before releasing funds
Required Documents
- Certified copy of the death certificate
- Valid government-issued photo ID for the claimant (beneficiary, surviving joint owner, executor, administrator, or successor trustee)
- The decedent's account numbers, if available
- For accounts with no POD beneficiary and no joint owner: Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration
- For a Hawaii small estate: the affidavit under HRS § 560:3-1201 (personal property up to $100,000; motor vehicles transfer regardless of value) or the summary administration order under HRS § 560:3-1205
- For trust-titled accounts: the trust agreement or Certification of Trust showing the successor trustee, plus the trustee's ID
- For IRA accounts: the IRA beneficiary claim and distribution election forms
- For an estate account: the estate EIN and the Letters appointing you (an Estate Account is a Fiduciary Account, and CPB may require additional authorizations at any time)
What to know at this institution
CPB has no separate claims department: the Customer Service Center (808-544-0500 / 1-800-342-8422) and the branches are the intake, and the Trust and Asset Management division handles probate and estate settlement for clients who engage it (probate services listed in the Trust and Investment Services brochure include inventorying and safeguarding assets, recordkeeping, court appearances, working with your attorney, filing tax returns and other necessary papers, distributing assets, and communicating with interested parties). The Deposit Account Agreement (DCL-001, Revised 02/05/2025) is the governing document, and three of its terms drive the whole process: the bank may reverse government and retirement benefit payments made to the deceased; it may keep paying checks drawn on or before the date of death for 10 days after death unless someone claiming an interest stops payment; and it may freeze the account until it receives proof satisfactory to it of each person's right to the funds. The bank also disclaims record-keeping duty: under ACCOUNT DOCUMENTATION, CPB "shall not be responsible or liable for retaining" a trust document, power of attorney, court document, or death certificate presented to it -- keep your own certified copies, because the bank will not hold them for you. Fee exposure for an estate, from FEE-001: research or special request $35/hour (one-hour minimum), statement copies $5 (rush $25), check copies $4, medallion signature guarantee $25, notary $5 per signature per document, IRA transfer $50, IRA distribution by check $12, dormant account $10/month, escheat $55, safe deposit box drill $200.
Mortgage and home lending
Mortgages and home equity loans are liabilities, not assets. They do not have beneficiaries and cannot be retitled to a trust. When a borrower dies, the loan obligation transfers with the property to whoever inherits it. Under the federal Garn-St. Germain Act, the lender cannot accelerate the loan or call it due when the property transfers to a surviving spouse, child, or the borrower’s revocable trust.
- The deceased borrower's full legal name and loan number
- A certified copy of the death certificate
- The property address
- Continue making payments on the existing loan
- Assume the loan
- Refinance in your own name
- Pay off the remaining balance from estate funds
Required Documents
- Certified copy of the death certificate
- Government-issued photo ID for the heir or personal representative
- Completed Successor in Interest form (from the Mortgage Loan Service Center)
- Documentation proving ownership interest in the property: probated will, court order, recorded deed, or trust document showing you as successor trustee or beneficiary
- Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration (if going through probate)
- Marriage certificate (if surviving spouse)
- Proof that homeowner's and hurricane insurance (and flood insurance, if applicable) remain in force on the property
Claims Contact
Phone: 1-877-330-4050
Central Pacific Bank, Loan Servicing Dept., P.O. Box 3590, Honolulu, HI 96811
What to know at this institution
Under the federal Garn-St. Germain Depository Institutions Act (12 U.S.C. § 1701j-3), CPB cannot enforce a due-on-sale clause when the property transfers to a surviving spouse, child, relative upon death, or the borrower's revocable living trust; confirmed Successors in Interest are treated as borrowers under CFPB mortgage servicing rules. Hawaii-specific: the hazard and hurricane insurance requirement does not lapse because the borrower died -- an heir who lets the policy lapse triggers force-placed coverage on top of the estate's payments. Mortgage loan officer contacts: https://www.cpb.bank/personal-banking/mortgage-loans/contact-a-mortgage-loan-officer.
Prepare your letter of instruction to CPB
CPB accepts a claimant-drafted letter of instruction. We draft it for you — addressed to CPB's verified claims department, with the documents it requires enclosed.
Build your letter of instructionOpening an account for the estate itself
Checks made out to the estate deposit into an account titled to the estate, opened by the appointed executor or administrator under the estate's EIN.
How to open an estate account at CPB →How long the process takes at CPB: Joint and POD (informal trust) accounts pass automatically and are typically released within days once CPB has the certified death certificate and the claimant's ID; accounts that need Letters move at the speed of the Hawaii probate court. A frozen account stays frozen until CPB has proof "satisfactory to us" of each claimant's right to the funds. The most common reason for delays is missing or incomplete documentation, so submitting everything upfront is the best way to keep things moving.
Documentation required by CPB includes Certified copy of the death certificate, Valid government-issued photo ID for the claimant (beneficiary, surviving joint owner, executor, administrator, or successor trustee), and The decedent's account numbers, if available, along with additional paperwork that varies by account type. All death certificates and court documents must be certified copies.
Frequently asked questions
Its Deposit Account Agreement (DCL-001) gives it three powers, and all three matter to an executor. First, it may freeze, offset, refuse, and reverse deposits and transactions -- expressly including government or retirement benefit payments payable to the deceased, so Social Security or pension money that lands after the date of death is routinely pulled back and should not be spent. Second, it may keep paying checks drawn on or before the date of death for up to 10 days after death, unless someone claiming an interest in the account orders a stop payment; if the decedent left checks outstanding you do not want honored, call 808-544-0500 inside that window. Third, if it has any question about who owns the funds, it may freeze all or part of the account until it has proof "satisfactory to us" of each person's right to the money. You are also required to notify the bank of the death of an owner, an authorized signer, or a designated beneficiary.
Yes. The Deposit Account Agreement lists the death or court-determined legal incompetence of an owner as an express exception to the early withdrawal penalty on a time deposit: CPB may let the money out before maturity "when one or more of you dies or is determined legally incompetent by a court." That covers the standard CD, the Exceptional Preferred CD, the Jumbo CD, and IRA time deposits, so an executor or POD beneficiary does not have to choose between waiting for maturity and forfeiting interest. One CD needs extra attention: the Smart Saver CD depends on an automatic monthly deposit from another CPB account, and if those deposits stop before maturity -- which is what happens when the funding account is frozen -- the rate schedule says the Smart Saver CD is closed with penalties. Raise it with the branch before the funding account is frozen.
CPB records it as an "Informal Trust Account." You stay the owner, the beneficiaries have no right to the funds during your lifetime, and you can change them at any time -- but only "by written direction" to the bank, so a phone call alone does not do it and there is no online beneficiary tool. On your death the funds pass automatically to the named beneficiaries who survive you, and CPB pays them in EQUAL shares unless its records say otherwise, so an unequal split has to be spelled out on the form. If no named beneficiary survives the last surviving owner, Hawaii law determines who owns the money. Add or change a designation at a branch, or call 808-544-0500 / 1-800-342-8422 and mail the signed form to P.O. Box 3590, Honolulu, HI 96811.
CPB's Customer Service Center (estate notification) / Trust and Asset Management (estate settlement) can be reached by phone at 1-800-342-8422 for questions throughout the claims process.
Multiple CPB accounts may mean multiple claims. Some account types can be processed together, but others require their own documentation. Check with the Customer Service Center (estate notification) / Trust and Asset Management (estate settlement) to confirm what applies.
Sources
Data sourced from CPB primary sources (15 pages reviewed). How we research.
Customer Service Center
Central Pacific Bank, P.O. Box 3590, Honolulu, HI 96811
Trust and Asset Management Division
Central Pacific Bank, Trust and Asset Management, 220 South King Street, Honolulu, HI 96813
Customer Service Center (estate notification) / Trust and Asset Management (estate settlement)
Central Pacific Bank, P.O. Box 3590, Honolulu, HI 96811
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