Executor refusing to claim money

So after reading this thread regarding unclaimed money, I did a search and turned up just over $3000 from a great aunt in Indiana who died about 5 years ago. When I told my dad about it - he’s one of her heirs - he said he had already informed the executor of it, who then subsequently refused to initiate a claim. The executor’s reasoning was it was too small of a sum to bother with as there were too many joint heirs (I think around 17) to make it worth the effort. While my parents don’t need the money, I know that a couple of the heirs are of fairly modest means and even an extra $250 would make a difference to them.

Is the refusal to claim the monies legal? That’s not an insubstantial sum to my thinking as the entire liquidated estate was only around $75k, IIRC.

I’m not a lawyer, but I was an executor once. I think I recall reading something to the effect that the executor’s actions can be challenged by the heirs. I believe it would be a civil action, though, in which case it would be up to them to hire lawyers and prosecute the case. This is the sort of thing that might vary from state to state.