Ted Kennedy didn't leave behind only a 46-year legislative record - he also left behind a bulging, $4.5 million campaign war chest.The hefty sum means that, even in death, Kennedy remains the 10th most well-financed senator in the nation - even though his next election wasn't until 2012.
Now - as a bevy of Bay State politicians consider running for Kennedy's vacant seat - the question becomes what happens to all that money.
"His family gets to decide what to do with the money," said one Democratic source.
The reality is that federal law severely limits what the Kennedy clan can do with Uncle Ted's campaign kitty.
Here's one thing they can't do: transfer it to a member of the family who may choose to run for his seat, including his widow, Vicki.
The late senator's campaign can give the maximum federal donation - $2,000 - to any candidate (Kennedy or non-Kennedy), but that's it, Federal Election Commission officials say. The same goes for Kennedy's political action committee, the Committee for a Democratic Majority, which has another $11,000 cash on hand.
There are other options, however.
The family can donate the entire sum to a certified charity, an option that seems most likely. That would include the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate, a new think tank he organized in his final years - or brother John F. Kennedy's presidential library.
The family can also transfer every dime to the Democrats' House or Senate fund-raising teams, which in turn could use the money to buttress campaigns in Massachusetts or elsewhere.