In a surprise move, Sue Ann Arnall, the ex-wife of oil baron Harold Hamm, has reportedly cashed a handwritten alimony check for nearly $1 billion.

According to reports, an attorney for Hamm — the founder, majority owner and CEO of Continental Resources Inc. — said Thursday that Arnall deposited the check earlier this week. An image of the check shows it was written on Jan. 5 for about $974.8 million, an amount that includes interest above the $972.7 million Hamm was ordered to pay Arnall at the conclusion of their divorce trial last November (see Shale Daily, Nov. 12, 2014).

Arnall reportedly received the check early last week but rejected it on the grounds that it could jeopardize her appeal of last November’s ruling. Hamm has also filed an appeal seeking to reduce the award to Arnall, following the collapse of world crude oil prices.

At a hearing on Tuesday, Oklahoma County District Court Judge Howard Haralson, the same judge who presided over the divorce trial, refused requests by both sides to either revisit his ruling or change the amount awarded. “It is what it is,” he said, according to reports.

Shares of Continental were trading at $36.70 (up $1.21, a 3.44% increase) in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday.