Junior Subordinated Debentures Boston Private Capital Trust I Terms (Details) - Boston Private Capital Trust I [Member] - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Millions	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt Instrument, Face Amount	$ 105.0
Junior Subordinated Debt, Liquidation Price per Share	$ 50.00
Debt Instrument, Frequency of Periodic Payment	quarterly
Debt Instrument, Interest Rate Terms	fixed
Debt Instrument, Interest Rate at Period End	4.875%
Debt Instrument, Maturity Date	Oct. 01, 2034
Assets Held-in-trust	$ 3.2	$ 3.2

Junior Subordinated Debt, Liquidation Price per Share

No definition available.

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- Definition

The total amount of cash and securities held by third party trustees pursuant to terms of debt instruments or other agreements as of the date of each statement of financial position presented, which can be used by the trustee only to pay the noncurrent portion of specified obligations.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 235
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.4-08.(b))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=26873400&loc=d3e23780-122690

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- Definition

Face (par) amount of debt instrument at time of issuance.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 835
-SubTopic 30
-Section 55
-Paragraph 8
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=64930739&loc=d3e28878-108400

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 835
-SubTopic 30
-Section 45
-Paragraph 2
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=64930785&loc=d3e28551-108399

+ Details

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Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Description of the frequency of periodic payments (monthly, quarterly, annual).

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 942
-SubTopic 470
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-Subparagraph (c)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=75038535&loc=d3e64711-112823

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.22)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

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- Definition

Effective interest rate for the funds borrowed under the debt agreement considering interest compounding and original issue discount or premium.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.22(a)(1))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 835
-SubTopic 30
-Section 45
-Paragraph 2
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=64930785&loc=d3e28551-108399

+ Details

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Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Description of the interest rate as being fixed or variable, and, if variable, identification of the index or rate on which the interest rate is based and the number of points or percentage added to that index or rate to set the rate, and other pertinent information, such as frequency of rate resets.

+ References

+ Details

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Balance Type:	na
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- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- Definition

Date when the debt instrument is scheduled to be fully repaid, in CCYY-MM-DD format.

+ References

+ Details

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- Details

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