· June 17, 2021. When you’re applying for social security disability benefits, hiring a disability lawyer is not required by law. But doing so can be very beneficial for your case. According to the SSA, denied social security disability claims average at 53%. Most of them got denied during the initial application stage.
 · SSDI payments are based on a disabled spouse’s work record, the disability, and the disabled spouse’s age. Divorce does not change any of those factors. If you have received your spouse’s SSDI benefit during your marriage, those payments will continue after your divorce, unless: you’re under 62 years old. your marriage lasted less than ...
 · The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protects the rights of people with disabilities. It guarantees equal opportunity in: The Department of Justice ADA information line answers questions about ADA requirements. It's available to businesses, state and local governments, and the public. Call 1- 800-514-0301 (TTY: 1-800-514-0383 ).
 · Next, your attorney will develop a "theory" of why you're disabled under Social Security disability law. Your lawyer will write a legal brief for the judge explaining the theory of the case. Lawyers use three main possible "theories" that attorneys or advocates can use to explain why someone's disabled. They can:
You Earn Too Much Income For SSDI, which is the benefit program for workers who have paid into the Social Security system over multiple years, one of the most basic reasons you could be denied benefits is that, when you apply, you are working above the limit where it is considered "substantial gainful activity" (SGA).
Leading Reasons That Disability Claims Are DeniedLack of medical evidence.Prior denials.Too much earnings.Failure to follow treatment advice.Failure to cooperate.
medical evidenceFor a Social Security disability (or SSI) case, medical evidence takes many forms, including physician examination and treatment notes, mental health records, bloodwork panels, and reports of imaging studies (MRI, CT scan, and X-rays).
The legal definition of “disability” states that a person can be considered disabled if they are unable to perform any substantial gainful activity due to a medical or physical impairment or impairments which can be expected to result in death or which has lasted or can be expected to last for a continuous period of ...
Tips to Improve Your Chances of Getting Disability BenefitsFile Your Claim as Soon as Possible. ... Make an Appeal within 60 Days. ... Provide Full Details of Medical Treatment. ... Provide Proof of Recent Treatment. ... Report your Symptoms Accurately. ... Provide Medical Evidence. ... Provide Details of your Work History.More items...•
What Conditions Automatically Qualify You for Disability?Musculoskeletal disorders (e.g., bone, joint injuries, skeletal spine injuries)Special senses and speech (e.g., visual disorders, blindness)Respiratory disorders (e.g., chronic bronchitis, emphysema, asthma)More items...
Fifteen months elapsed from the time you became disabled — what the SSA calls your “onset date” — to when your claim was finally approved. By law SSDI benefits have a five-month waiting period — they start the sixth full month after the onset date — so you're entitled to 10 months of past-due benefits.
But unfortunately, obtaining SSDI benefits is not easy. In fact, it's rather difficult. Approximately 70% of initial SSDI claims are denied every year. In other words, less than one-third of initial claims are approved.
This medical documentation validates your application and proves to the Social Security Administration that you are, in fact, disabled.
The following five statements should never be announced at your disability hearing.“I can't work because no one will hire me.” ... “I don't know why I'm here. ... “I don't do chores because my significant other, friend or family member does them.” ... “I have never used drugs or alcohol in my life.”More items...•
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.
Examples of Hidden DisabilitiesAutism.Brain injuries.Chron's Disease.Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.Chronic pain.Cystic Fibrosis.Depression, ADHD, Bipolar Disorder, Schizophrenia, and other mental health conditions.Diabetes.More items...•
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protects the rights of people with disabilities. It guarantees equal opportunity in:Public accommodations...
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination.Protections Included Under the LawTh...
Voter accessibility laws ensure that people with disabilities or language barriers are able to vote.If you know you’ll need accommodations on Elect...
When you first contact an attorney for representation, either the attorney or a firm staff member will conduct an initial interview with you to gat...
Your attorney, or a staff member in the law firm, will request the medical records needed to win your claim and submit them to the Social Security...
It is not unusual for attorneys to wait until a month or two before a disability hearing to first speak to a client. Up to that point, your only co...
The SSA allows you to bring a witness to testify about your disability, but because witnesses can be harmful or helpful, your attorney will decide...
Your disability lawyer will determine the best way to win your case. First, your lawyer will review your denial letter from Social Security to get...
How a disability may affect your divorce. Divorce is never easy, but it’s even more complex when either spouse is disabled. Your chances of getting divorced increase with the onset of either spouse’s disability. If you or your spouse has special needs, there can be additional issues to consider as part of your divorce case, ...
How Will a Divorce Affect Social Security Disability Insurance Payments? In most cases, SSDI payments won’t change due to divorce. SSDI payments are based on a disabled spouse’s work record, the disability, and the disabled spouse’s age. Divorce does not change any of those factors.
In making a decision about alimony, a judge will consider factors like a disabled spouse’s need for frequent doctor visits, medications, and medical equipment. If a disabled spouse is unable to work or become self-sufficient, the other spouse may be required to help meet those financial needs through alimony payments.
If you or your spouse has special needs, there can be additional issues to consider as part of your divorce case, including financial support, child custody, and future disability payments. Understanding what’s at stake can help you better prepare for your divorce.
A disabled parent won’t necessarily be off the hook for child support. Although one parent’s disability may affect their ability to earn income, a disabled parent’s worker’s compensation payments or Social Security Disability Insurance payments can count as income available to pay support.
If you have received your spouse’s SSDI benefit during your marriage, those payments will continue after your divorce, unless:
If your disabled ex-spouse dies, you may still be eligible for SSDI survivor benefits. Many of the same criteria as above are required: you’re over 62, married for 10 years or more, you’re not entitled to a larger Social Security benefit, and you haven’t remarried.
Voter accessibility laws ensure that people with disabilities or language barriers are able to vote. If you know you’ll need accommodations on Election Day, contact your state or local election office to find out what to expect at your polling place.
Federal agencies with ADA responsibilities. Mediation for dispute resolution. The United States Access Board website provides: Guidelines and standards for telecommunications, public transportation, and recreational facilities. A guide to the ADA standards for buildings.
How to File an Employment Discrimination Complaint. To file a complaint, contact your state, local or tribal employment rights office. Many state and local governments have their own anti-discrimination laws. These laws may offer extra protections beyond federal laws. Some state laws: Apply to businesses with only five or six employees.
It's available to businesses, state and local governments, and the public. Call 1- 800-514-0301 (TTY: 1-800-514-0383 ).
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protects the rights of people with disabilities. It guarantees equal opportunity in: Public accommodations. Jobs. Transportation. Government services.
According to Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act, hotels, restaurants, and certain places of entertainment must provide disability access. If you feel that you've been the object of Title III discrimination, you can file an ADA complaint .
Many state laws have more protections for nursing mothers than federal law requires. State labor offices enforce these laws.
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.
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.
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 .)
It is not unusual for attorneys to wait until a month before a disability hearing to first speak to a client. Up to that point, your only contact with the law firm may be with paralegals or staff members. Nonattorney staff members are generally responsible for making sure request for hearing deadlines are met and medical records are requested and received, and for communication with clients about pre-hearing matters.
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.
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 .)
One of the benefits of hiring a Disability lawyer is not having to worry about schedules or filing deadlines. A lawyer will handle whatever comes down the pike and keep you up to date.
If your claim gets denied, a seasoned attorney can identify the problem and work to overcome it.
Hiring a Disability lawyer at McDonald Law Firm means you will get aggressive, legal representation from the word go. Because the Disability process can take a long time, our team won’t waste any time getting started on your claim. Regardless of whether you want to apply for the first time or appeal a denied claim, we can help you. Our goal is to get you the maximum amount of benefits as quickly as possible. Call us today at 855-702-9061.
For example, if you don’t appeal a denied disability claim within 60 days of receiving a rejection letter, you will have to file a new application and start all over. One of the benefits of hiring a Disability lawyer is not having to worry about schedules or filing deadlines. A lawyer will handle whatever comes down the pike and keep you up to date.
If successful, the attorney’s fee is collected by the federal government out of the back pay award and capped at 25 percent or $6,000, whichever is less. The amount that goes to your attorney will likely be small compared to the amount of benefits you will receive during your lifetime.
If you are appealing a denied claim, an experienced attorney may be able to eliminate the need for a Disability hearing altogether by writing a compelling legal brief outlining your argument for benefits. If the Disability Judge is persuaded by the brief, he or she could grant a favorable decision before your hearing. This so-called “ on the record review ” could save time, money, stress and, most importantly, you could receive benefits faster.
Skip the painstaking paperwork. To apply for Disability benefits, you will be required to submit about 40 pages of forms filled with information about your medical condition, education, work history, limitations and capabilities.
When you think you won't be able to work for a long time, have a free consultation with a disability lawyer. If you're thinking about hiring a disability attorney to help with your Social Security case, you should first understand the costs and benefits of having a lawyer on your side.
However, it's important to remember that a lawyer's attempts to expedite a case are often unsuccessful, and that most claimants, including those represented by legal counsel, must wait many months or even years for their case to be resolved.
The benefits of hiring a disability lawyer are many, and worth going over in some detail. It's also important to consider at what stage of the process an attorney should get involved.
Fortunately, an experienced disability attorney is trained to handle "bad facts." For example, if your records contain opinions by a physician or other medical provider that do not support the fact that you have a true disability and are unable to work, your attorney will ask you questions aimed at limiting the importance of and/or eroding the accuracy of the doctor's statement. For instance, your lawyer may ask you how long you had been a patient of the doctor, whether the doctor was a specialist in your illness, and whether you sought a second opinion.
A good disability lawyer will develop the best theory of disability for winning your case, prepare you for your hearing, and arrange for witnesses. Hearing approval rates are about twice as high for applicants who bring lawyers. To learn how a disability lawyer handles other aspects of your case and appeal hearing, ...
The most important evidence you need to substantiate your claim for disability benefits is the opinion prepared by your treating doctor (s). You will give your lawyer contact information for your treating doctors so that the lawyer can request your doctor to submit a written opinion of your diagnosis, prognosis, and functional limitations in an RFC ( residual functional capacity) statement.
Your attorney will ask your doctors for supportive statements, submit only the relevant medical records to the judge, and know how to handle bad evidence. In preparing to represent you in a disability appeal hearing, your attorney will want you to answer some detailed questions about your symptoms and limitations.
When trying to prove that you can do what Social Security calls "less than sedentary work," your attorney will need medical evidence to prove that you have certain functional limitations, like not being able to lift ten pounds or needing to lie down frequently during the day .
In the past, Social Security had to give more weight to the opinions of treating doctors who have treated you for a period of time, who know your medical history, and are supportive of your disability claim. As of March 27, 2017, this is no longer true. For more information, see our article on when Social Security can discount your treating doctor's opinion.
It is not uncommon for medical records to contain information that is not only unhelpful but may be harmful to a disability applicant's case. Social Security regulations and ethics rules require a disability attorney to submit all relevant evidence to Social Security.
When you’re looking for a disability attorney, it’s important to do your research. Most initial disability claims are denied at the first two levels of the process, which means that the disability lawyer you hire is likely going to be standing in front of an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) to plead your case.
Disability law is a specialized field. You don’t want just anyone standing up in front of an ALJ. Ideally, you want to work with someone who has decades of experience in the field. Consider who you’re working with carefully.
Social Security Disability cases often take years from beginning to end. You can read more about the process here, but the short version is that you spend a lot of time waiting for the Social Security Administration (SSA) to make decisions and present you with hearing dates.
Tracey Pate has over 25 years’ experience in Disability Law, representing thousands of clients. In creating her firm, she did so with the belief that everyone should have access to a quality disability lawyer.
When a potential disability client contacts a Social Security disability law firm, a paralegal or assistant will usually do an "intake" interview with you, often by phone. The assistant will ask you questions about your age, your medical condition, how often you see your doctors, whether you've been hospitalized for your condition, and whether you are working. The law firm will then decide whether it's in their financial interest to take your case. Established law firms (as opposed to young solo lawyers just starting out) generally only take cases on which they have a solid chance of making an ample fee.
Because medical records are complicated, and a lawyer isn't always in the best position to assess whether Social Security is likely to grant a medical allowance for a complex medical condition, lawyers often focus on other factors when deciding to take a case.
Here are some of the factors lawyers consider when they decide to take a case. Some of the factors, such as age or medical condition, you can't change, but with other factors, you might be able to take actions to make your case more attractive to a disability attorney.
You might ask the attorney or paralegal you spoke to for details on why they don't think you have a good case. If it has to do with your medical records, recent work, substance use, or receipt of unemployment benefits, you can address these issues before continuing with your claim.
If you aren't currently seeing a doctor, and don't have a history over the past several years of seeing a doctor, you'll have a harder time finding a lawyer to take your case. Good medical records are probably the most important factor in getting an approval for benefits, and this is especially true for mental claims.
Some disability lawyers won't take your case until you've been denied benefits. They'd rather not help out at the application stage, but they'd be more than willing to represent you at the appeal hearing.
Having what appears to be a severe medical condition will obviously help convince a lawyer to take your case, but there are certain conditions that some lawyers don't like to see in your medical file. Fibromyalgia is one of them. Historically it's been difficult to get benefits for fibromyalgia, though it's gotten easier since Social Security published a ruling on the subject. Also, applying for fibromyalgia along with similar conditions, especially a lesser known condition like Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, may signal to Social Security that you still haven't received the proper diagnosis.
Not only must workers with disabilities have a certain number of quarters of employment based upon their age, but 20 quarters must be earned within the prior 10 years if the individual is over the age of 30.
While some jurisdictions will not allow an individual lacking capacity to file for divorce, others will permit it if a guardian/conservator can demonstrate that it’s in the person’s best interests. Certain states allow a guardian/ conservator, with court approval, to file on behalf of a ward, while others do not.
While it would be nearly impossible for one spouse to make successful claims against the other’s third party SNT, a first party SNT may be another matter, depending upon state law. Some funding sources are protected, while others are not. When established to hold a personal injury settlement (with the possible exception of compensation for lost wages), funds in a first party SNT are not subject to division between divorcing parties. The same goes for funds resulting from inheritances or gifts to the recipient party. In contrast, if a first party SNT was partially funded from “unprotected” sources that were deposited to such a trust during the marriage, this property might be subject to division. The same would be true if marital funds were deposited to a pooled trust.
Given the changing economic status of an individual with disabilities who undertakes a divorce, eligibility for needs-based government benefits may become more important than ever. If a first party SNT does not already exist, a court-ordered SNT should be created to hold that individual’s share of divided marital assets and to receive any required alimony payments. In order to comply with federal regulations requiring that a first party SNT be created by someone other than the beneficiary, establishing the SNT should not be part of the divorce agreement itself, but rather part of the divorce judgment and created at the request of the other party or the individual’s guardian ad litem, if one has been appointed. The option of sheltering assets from a property settlement in a SNT may not be available if the ex-spouse needing government benefits is over the age of 64. Some state Medicaid programs will permit assets to be sheltered in a pooled SNT.
If an ex-spouse dies fully insured, a surviving ex-spouse with disabilities may be eligible for SSDI benefits on the deceased ex-spouse’s work record if higher than the record of the surviving ex-spouse with disabilities. The surviving ex-spouse must be at least 50 and married at least 10 years to the deceased ex-spouse. Remarriage after the age of 50 or termination of an earlier marriage will not affect eligibility for this benefit.
Studies indicate that divorce rates increase with the onset of a disability. While any divorce is likely to be disruptive, when one or both partners have special needs, there are additional complications. Marital laws differ by state, but here are issues to consider.
Still, a person with special needs may require an array of new services, depending on the ex-spouse’s previous level of involvement. Other family members may be able to provide assistance but professional services, paid for with private funds or through Medicaid waiver programs, may need to be considered. While custody of minor children will be determined by the court, based on their best interests, individuals with disabilities retain their parental rights, even if interacting with their kids requires supportive services.