Sen. Kennedy’s interim replacement is also listed as executor of his will

Kennedy’s Senate replacement named will executor

BOSTON — The man who was appointed to serve as the interim replacement for the late Sen. Edward Kennedy has also been named executor of his will, it was revealed Thursday.

Kennedy named his longtime friend Paul Kirk as executor in a five-page will filed in Barnstable Probate Court. Kennedy signed it Aug. 25, 2006 — exactly three years before he died.

The document was filed the same day Gov. Deval Patrick appointed Kirk to serve as interim senator. A special election to fill Kennedy’s seat will be held in January, and Kirk said he will not be a candidate in that race.

Kennedy’s will leaves all his assets to a trust in his name. Kennedy provided in the trust for his widow, Victoria Kennedy, his three children and other unnamed family members.

The will does not state the value of Kennedy’s estate, list any of his assets or specify how they will be distributed. In a 2008 federal financial disclosure report, Kennedy placed the net worth of his publicly traded assets somewhere between $15 million and $72.6 million.

Anthony Provenzano Jr., a probate attorney from Plymouth, said Kennedy’s filing appears to be a “pour-over will,” which “pours” any property he owned at the time of death into a trust that he set up during his lifetime. The property in the trust is distributed under the instructions of the deceased.

This type of will is sometimes used by people seeking to keep their affairs private, Provenzano said. Under probate rules, whatever is in a trust at the time of death does not need to be inventoried for the court and does not become public.