Unless your case is very clear cut and the evidence points strongly to your disability, you might be better off hiring an attorney. And if you don't want to wait upwards of two years for a hearing date, you might try to hire an attorney for help with the initial application.
The benefits of hiring a disability lawyer:
1. Arthritis. Arthritis and other musculoskeletal disabilities are the most commonly approved conditions for disability benefits. If you are unable to walk due to arthritis, or unable to perform dexterous movements like typing or writing, you will qualify.
Most claimants who are seeking disability benefits are not aware the Social Security Administration can investigate your activities. However, the SSA does put people under investigation.
If you do not agree that you have been overpaid, or if you believe the amount is incorrect, you can appeal by filing Form SSA-561, Request for Reconsideration. You should explain why you think you have not been overpaid or why you think the amount is not correct.
The major difference is that SSI determination is based on age/disability and limited income and resources, whereas SSDI determination is based on disability and work credits. In addition, in most states, an SSI recipient will automatically qualify for health care coverage through Medicaid.
On the other hand, if you receive disability benefits through the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program, the SSA won't check your bank account. Individuals qualify for SSDI based on their work history. Claimants who receive SSDI or SSI will be subject to ongoing eligibility reviews.
(2) SSA employees authorized to listen-in to or record telephone calls are permitted to annotate personal identifying information about the calls, such as a person's name, Social Security number, address and/or telephone number.
Unfortunately, your odds are even lower for getting your benefits approved on the first appeal—about 12%. If you move on to the next level of appeal, which involves a hearing before an administrative law judge (ALJ), your chances for approval increase significantly—more than 55%.
If we recently denied your claim for retirement, disability benefits, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), or a nonmedical related issue, you can appeal our decision. Generally, you have 60 days after you receive the notice of our decision to ask for any type of appeal. There are four levels of appeal: Reconsideration.
$3,148 per monthWhile SSDI is valuable to many, applicants need to carefully consider the program before applying. The maximum disability you can receive in 2021 is $3,148 per month. However, the average recipient will likely receive an amount of around $1,277 per month.
This is the basic amount used to establish your benefit. SSDI payments range on average between $800 and $1,800 per month. The maximum benefit you could receive in 2020 is $3,011 per month. The SSA has an online benefits calculator that you can use to obtain an estimate of your monthly benefits.
65When you reach the age of 65, your Social Security disability benefits stop and you automatically begin receiving Social Security retirement benefits instead. The specific amount of money you receive each month generally remains the same.
WHAT IS THE RESOURCE LIMIT? The limit for countable resources is $2,000 for an individual and $3,000 for a couple.
The first thing you need to ask when you meet with the lawyer or advocate you are interested in working with is how accessible they will be. Many Social Security Disability attorneys and advocates handle a large volume of cases.
Your lawyer will gather all your medical records from all your providers and help compile your file in a maneuverable manner so Disability Determination Services can see that you are unable to work.
Each and every year, the Social Security Administration receives millions of claims for Social Security Disability benefits. Unfortunately, approximately 70 percent of these claims are denied during the initial stage of the application process.
To receive disability, the condition must be expected to last a year or longer or it must be expected to culminate in your death. Disability claims can be complicated, and the odds of having a claim approved aren’t always in the favor of the disabled worker. Those who have a disability advocate or a Social Security Disability attorney representing ...
You need to be able to get along with the Social Security disability advocate or lawyer you work with. This professional may be working with you for a year or more depending on how far you have to appeal your Social Security Disability case. If you are working with a lawyer or advocate who is rude or abrasive or does not respect your feelings, it will make things complicated.
If you are unable to work and are seeking disability benefits, there are many ways that a lawyer can help your claim. First off, the key to a successful case is hard medical evidence and other supporting documentation that proves your condition is so limiting you are unable to work.
A study conducted by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) determined that individuals who were represented by an attorney or an advocate were three times more likely to have their disability claim approved than those who represent themselves.
There are programs that exist to provide disabled workers with financial and medical assistance while a disability claim is being examined.
Whether you are just beginning the application process, have been wrongfully denied benefits, have a stalled claim, or need to appeal a decision, professional attorneys with experience in disability law can help get you the information you need.
If you are unable to work due to a disabling impairment, legal representation can increase your chances of being approved for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Disabled Widows and Widowers Benefits (DWB), and Disabled Adult Child Benefits (DAC). A Social Security Disability lawyer can provide you with all the information you need to properly protect yourself.
Contact a representative's office and ask questions. First and foremost, ask if the lawyer has experience in winning disability claims for your medical condition.
Nolo, the premier plain-English legal website, offers a unique directory of disability lawyers that provides a comprehensive profile for each attorney with information that will help you select the right attorney. The profiles tell you about the lawyer's disability experience, education, and fees, and perhaps most importantly, the lawyer's general philosophy of practicing law. Nolo has confirmed that every listed attorney has a valid license and is in good standing with their bar association. Every attorney has taken a pledge to communicate regularly with you, provide an estimate of the time and cost involved, and provide you with a clear, fair, written fee agreement that spells out how they will handle your legal matter and how you will be charged.
First and foremost, ask if the lawyer has experience in winning disability claims for your medical condition. Typically, most lawyers who represent Social Security disability applicants are fairly busy, due to the large number of disability claims moving through the system.
As a result, a good Social Security lawyer will be able to tell you the percentage of the cases that are approved at the hearing level. Similarly, they can also tell you how many are approved for full or partial benefits.
Although it seems obvious, make sure the person who helps you with your Social Security application is actually a lawyer. Consequently, there are dozens of businesses that advertise to help people with the Social Security process. However, the people in those companies are often not lawyers. If they are not lawyers, they are not bound by the same rules of ethics and conduct that lawyers are. In contrast, they also likely do not have the same level of knowledge or experience that a bar-certified social security disability lawyer has. Also, your state or local bar association may have a referral service. Likewise, they will have a directory with lawyers listed by specialty.
You can also locate an attorney by calling different disability attorneys in your community and asking if they take overpayment cases. Once you have a few names, you can meet with attorneys to see whose approach you like best.
Usually, a disability attorney will enter into a fee agreement with you to take 25% of your disability backpay or $6,000 , whichever is less. Then, when the case is over, if you have won, Social Security forwards the attorney's fee to your attorney.
When attorneys do take overpayment cases, they will usually have you sign a fee petition agreeing to pay an hourly fee for the time that they spend working on your case. Then, when the case is over, the lawyer has to petition Social Security to approve the fee. Social Security will consider a number of factors when deciding whether a particular fee is fair, including the outcome of the case and the level of skill that was required to handle the case. Social Security can approve the attorney's fee petition request, disapprove it, or modify the fee to a lower amount.
If he spends less than 15 hours, he will return money from your retainer to you at the end of the case. Attorneys in Social Security overpayment cases are conscious that their clients are usually lower-income individuals due to their disability, and they know that it might be hard for the client to pay the attorney's bill. ...
That is, if you lose your case, you will owe your attorney $3,000 in fees (if Social Security approves the request), and you will still owe the overpayment. On the other hand, if Social Security says you owe a $160,000 overpayment, and your attorney will charge you a $3,000 retainer to begin working on it, then you might decide ...
Legal Aid attorneys work for non-profit law firms whose goal is to provide free legal advice and representation to low-income individuals in civil cases. (A civil case is any kind of case that does not involve a crime. Disability cases are civil cases.) Legal Aid attorneys may be more likely to take overpayment cases than some disability lawyers, ...
Social Security will consider a number of factors when deciding whether a particular fee is fair, including the outcome of the case and the level of skill that was required to handle the case. Social Security can approve the attorney's fee petition request, disapprove it, or modify the fee to a lower amount. Getting Social Security ...
There are three main possible "theories" an attorney can use to do this. Your lawyer can: prove that your condition meets a disability "listing". prove that you "grid" out of all work (including not being able to do your past work) prove that your non-exertional limitations prevent you from working, or.
If your attorney thinks additional testing is needed to meet the listing, he or she may request that an SSA doctor examine you or that you schedule the necessary tests with your physician. If your condition does not seem likely to meet the listing, the attorney will look to other possible theories.
Your attorney or nonattorney advocate will request the medical records needed to win your claim and submit them to the Social Security Administration (SSA) at the appropriate time before your hearing.
At the disability hearing, your lawyer will ask you ask you a series of questions called "hypotheticals." These hypotheticals are designed to rule out the possibility that you can work any type of job due to the limitations imposed by your condition. For more information, see our article on how an attorney uses hypotheticals at a disability hearing. (Also, you may want to learn more in general about what to expect at your disability hearing .)
To prove you are not capable of sedentary work, your attorney will use the documented symptoms of your illness, the opinions of your treating doctors, your testimony, and any other objective medical evidence in your file to show why you can't do various sit-down jobs. For example, if your doctor has said that you can't lift more than 10 pounds or sit more than two hours per day, this will help prove that you are capable of "less than sedentary work," meaning that Social Security will have to find you disabled. (For more information, see our article on "less than sedentary" status.
First, your lawyer will review your denial letter from Social Security to get the agency's reasons it denied your claim so that these issues can be resolved in your favor. (For more information, see our article on denial notices .)
Because Social Security frequently dictates the type of exam needed to win a claim for disability, a legal professional will review your medical records to determine whether you need to undergo additional testing. The legal professional may ask the SSA to schedule a consultative examination (CE) with one of their doctors or ask that you get the required testing done on your own, if need be.
You can find your local legal aid office in this directory from Legal Services Corporation. If you live near law schools, you can call them to see if they have a disability "clinic" where law students represent disability claimants, although you won't get the benefit of an experienced disability lawyer.
Instead, they collect a maximum of 25% of your retroactive benefits ( backpay) or $6,000, whichever is less. Social Security pays your attorney directly out of your backpay award. In the unlikely event that your disability application is approved with no backpay award, your lawyer would not be entitled to collect a fee unless he or she submitted a special fee petition to Social Security and it was approved. But since applications take at least a month and usually much longer to process, there are always back payments owed to disability applicants.
If you're applying for Social Security disability or SSI, hiring a lawyer will give you the best chance of winning your claim. Don't be scared of the hefty up-front fees charged by some lawyers —Social Security attorneys only charge you a fee if you win your case. If you don't win, there's little or nothing to pay.
Many legal aid offices stopped providing representation for Social Security disability claims after a rule change in 2005 that required the Social Security Administration to pay lawyer fees in SSI cases directly to the attorney. This meant that SSI claimants would have an easier time finding lawyers to take their case. Today, many legal aid offices will represent clients only in Social Security overpayment situations, since it can be difficult to find a lawyer for help in these cases. (For more information, read our article about finding a lawyer for an overpayment problem .)
Disability attorneys do not require their fees to be paid up front. Instead, they collect a maximum of 25% of your retroactive benefits ( backpay) or $6,000, whichever is less. Social Security pays your attorney directly out of your backpay award.
All Social Security disability lawyers charge fees on a contingency basis, where you only pay if you win.
Social Security allows attorneys to charge claimants for reasonable costs before winning the case, but not for attorneys' fees.