They do ask me that question and my answer is usually, “I don’t give tax advice, so I would really speak to a tax preparer about it.” If you’re asking should you cash a check you last received, if you do not want to try and bring any claims against the employer or negotiate a larger severance you should just make sure it doesn’t say full and final on it, and if it’s items that you actually worked for, like your wages, or your PTO, or vacation pay that has not been paid out, you can go ahead and cash that.