Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Georgia

If you're the executor, your first step is get a lawyer. Don't do anything without one. There are proper steps to take before paying heirs, and it is also unusual to have insurance paid through an estate, so I suspect you're about to mess up badly doing this yourself.

While Attorney Ashman gives sound advice, I don't quite understand why you are involved here. If there is a life insurance policy with a named beneficiary, then that passes directly to the named beneficiary from the insurance company. You are not in the picture. If, however, the beneficiary was the estate for your brother of which a surviving brother gets $10,000, then any distributions should be postponed until all claims come in. Then the debts/claims of the estate should be paid before the heirs get a dime. Assuming that this has all been done properly and the executor has filed final tax returns and is now ready to close the estate and make distribution, then the executor sends the beneficiary a signed release/receipt. The beneficiary has to sign the release/receipt and acknowledge that he received the funds and that he is releasing the executor from any liability What I would do is send a cover letter to the beneficiary with the release/receipt advising the beneficiary to sign and return and when it is received by my office, a check in the sum of $10,000 would then be issued. That way, the beneficiary cannot come back and make the argument that he did not receive what he was entitled to. And clerks of the probate court want to see receipts/releases before they will close out estates.