How Do I Open an Estate Account at First Hawaiian?

First Hawaiian publishes no estate-account opening procedure. What its guidance does cover, and its estate services contacts.

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Estate accounts at First Hawaiian

Estate accounts

Not addressed in First Hawaiian's published guidance

What to know at First Hawaiian

First Hawaiian Bank publishes no estate-account or probate-account opening information: no product page, no FAQ entry, no downloadable form (the forms page lists only administrative forms such as payment authorizations and close-account requests), and no estate entity type on its Business Account Documentation Requirements checklists for Hawaii or Guam. The consumer Deposit Account Rules and Regulations recognize fiduciary accounts as a general category subject to special legal rules and possible documentation requests, but the only personal fiduciary accounts enumerated are Uniform Transfers to Minors accounts, "in trust for" accounts (Guam/CNMI branches), and retirement accounts — no executor or administrator role is named. Rules for non-personal accounts live in a separate business-accounts rules document that is not posted online. An executor should expect to contact the Customer Service Center at (808) 844-4444 / toll-free (888) 844-4444 (daily 7:00 AM-7:00 PM HST) or visit a branch to ask; every process fact beyond that is unpublished.

Estate services: 1-808-525-7134View First Hawaiian's guidance

This guide summarizes each bank's published estate-account requirements and is not legal or banking advice. Requirements may vary by state and account type.

Frequently Asked Questions

First Hawaiian publishes no estate-account opening procedure, and its guidance does not state whether estate accounts are offered. Its estate services team can confirm directly.

An estate account is a bank account titled to the estate itself — not to the person who died and not to the executor personally. The court-appointed executor or administrator opens it to deposit money owed to the estate (final paychecks, refunds, proceeds from closed accounts), pay the estate's debts and expenses, and distribute what remains. Checks made out to "the Estate of" can only be deposited into an account titled this way.

The estate is its own taxpayer, separate from the person who died. Banks open estate accounts under the estate's Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the IRS, not the deceased's Social Security Number. The free EIN application prepares IRS Form SS-4 for the estate.