A judge yesterday modified a court order that had sealed the will of the late Sen. John Heinz.

Common Pleas Judge Frank J. Lucchino ordered that the contents be made available for public scrutiny, but some personal and sensitive information contained in the documents be concealed.

Eleven specific items in the Heinz estate, including his will and a redacted decree of distribution, will be available in 20 days at the Allegheny County register of wills office, Lucchino wrote in his order. Redactions are necessary, he wrote, so as not to publish personal bank account information, addresses and other entries of a private nature, or that would pose unnecessary risks to Heinz's heirs.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Tribune-Review Publishing Co. are the remaining petitioners who requested access to the probated estate. Attorney Charles Kelly, who represented the Post-Gazette, applauded the decision.

"It's gratifying to see that Judge Lucchino has tried to correct an error that occurred 14 years ago when the Heinz estate was closed or sealed with no hearing and no factual or legal basis for doing so."

The Los Angeles Times and The Morning Call of Allentown, Pa., filed a lawsuit in July to open the sealed documents on grounds that the information was of greater public interest because Teresa Heinz Kerry, the senator's widow and an heir to his fortune, was in a position to become the nation's first lady.

Those two newspapers, as well as The Philadelphia Inquirer, lost interest after Sen. John Kerry lost his bid to be president.

The estate documents were impounded April 5, 1991, in Allegheny County Orphans' Court, a day after Heinz and six others were killed in a midair collision over suburban Philadelphia.

Dolores Senanis, manager of the Heinz family office, said the family fears that disclosure of sensitive personal financial information contained in the estate records could be detrimental to the family's security.

After the initial petitioners withdrew from the case, those remaining used as evidence for their claim that the initial order to seal the files was improper.

"Denial of access is proper if 'such access may become a vehicle for harmful or improper purposes,' " Lucchino wrote, quoting a legal precedent.

"While there is no reason to believe that the petitioners would use the contents of the file for improper purposes, the same cannot be said of everyone else who would have access to its contents," he wrote.

Paul Bschorr, a New York attorney who represents executors of the estate, said the family is satisfied with Lucchino's ruling.

"We are pleased that the court has recognized the importance of protecting the security and privacy of the Heinz family," Bschorr said yesterday.