Severance and unemployment, do they overlap? - 14 months and counting

My employer is paying severance in instalments and I am not sure whether to file now. I do not usually post, so bear with me. I also wonder about the job-search requirement. How did your state treat it?

Thanks for writing this out. I went through something close to it 14 months ago, and it got easier once I kept a simple log of every call and form.