answer:I can’t speak about legality, but you do have a moral obligation. And consider this: If the amount owed to the estate was actually $10 million, would there be a question? A large amount of money would cause the other heirs to go to court claiming the Order was issued without full knowledge, and that you as executor did not fully disclose all assets. So go ahead and take in the check and distribute the amounts to the heirs. Once they send it to you, the whole thing will take you ten minutes to deposit the check and another 15 minutes to figure out how much to send to each heir and write the checks. Maybe another ten minutes to address envelopes and stamp and mail. Take the hour to do the right thing.