DISABILITY SURVIVAL GUIDE: NORTH ALABAMA EDITION

Can Social Security Disability (SSDI) benefits ever end?  If so, what are some things that may stop your disability benefits?   Yes.  SSDI benefits may end.  A number of things can stop disability benefits.  Here are some of the common things that can cause your benefits to stop: 1.  You go back to work.  In 2023, a job in which you earn at least $1,470 per month (gross) will make you ineligible for SSDI benefits, regardless of your medical condition.  Self employment has the same rule. 2.  A Continuing Disability Review (CDR) may end your benefits.  Social Security will conduct a review of most claimants about every 3 years.  If they find substantial medical improvement, your benefit can be discontinued.  This decision is subject to appeal, however. 3.  Incarceration for longer than 30 days will end your disability benefits. 4.  Reaching full retirement age technically ends disability benefits; however, the benefit s...

If you try to attend a disability hearing without representation, the judge's attitude is going to be:  "Go find someone who speaks my language and come back for your hearing."  In other words, Go get a lawyer and come back in a few months. Judges want you to have a lawyer at the hearing for several reasons:  it makes the hearing go smoother and faster.  It helps the judge to know that your rights are protected.  It relieves the judge from explaining every unusual term used in the hearing, and it allows the judge to discuss the case and any settlement with someone who understands the proposal.   Here are some of the things your attorney will do for you in a disability hearing.   1.     Protect your best interests:  Get the earliest onset date possible for the most back pay. 2.     Help get your past work properly classified. 3.     Ask the judge to consider grid rules or Medical-Vocational Rules. 4. ...

It's a fact:  Most disability cases are won in the appeals, not in the earlier application stage. Call us for help. (256) 799-0297. A client came to me in 2021 after he had been denied three times!  He had been denied in 2019, filed an appeal and was denied again.  In early 2022, this man filed a new claim, which was denied.  I filed an appeal for him in March of 2022.  It was denied.  The claimant was ready to give up and quit. At that point, I asked for a hearing before a federal administrative law judge (ALJ)--the next allowable step in the appeal process. At the hearing in early 2023, the judge listened to the evidence and issued a new decision:  The ALJ found that my client had been disabled ever since 2021and issued back pay all the way back to February, 2021.  The point is this:  Social Security will often resist paying legitimate claims and you must persist through the entire process to win and get paid! ----- A military veteran came ...

What a Client Told Me About Her Experience with TV Lawyers   I am addicted to late night TV, so I sit up and watch reruns on HGTV or the Super Station.  That's where I saw the TV lawyer. A congenial man in his early fifties with slightly graying hair, a pleasant smile and convincing voice.  He told me that if I needed disability benefits, he could help me get them.  In 30 seconds he had me convinced that he would be working just for me.   It never occurred to me that he wasn't a lawyer at all; he was an actor who played a lawyer on TV commercials.  But he plastered an 800 telephone number on the screen and was so warm and convincing that I wrote down the number.  Next day I gave him a call. A woman answered in a call center.  I could hear several other operators carrying on conversations with other callers.  She took my number and promised that someone would call me back the same day.  I wasn't really expecting the TV l...

If you are age 50 or over, and unable to work because of a long term physical illness or impairment, you may consider Social Security disability (SSDI). SSDI can pay up to $3,058 per month to individuals who are unable to work.  You paid into the SSDI program during all your working years.  It is a type of government insurance.  Now, you may be able to file a claim and get a cash benefit. The Forsythe Firm in Huntsville, AL specializes in helping disabled persons age 50 to 65 who are not yet receiving Social Security. Often, our skilled attorneys and advocates can use the Medical-Vocational Guidelines to get a claim approved. Our consultation and evaluation is free and you never pay a fee until after you win your claim and collect your past due benefits.  If you don't win, you never pay a fee -- ever. How to contract the Forsythe Firm in Huntsville? Call (256) 799-0297. The call is free and so is the consultation.  

  The Social Security Administration (SSA) defines a disability as “the inability to engage in any substantial gainful activity by reason of any medically determinable physical or mental impairment which can be expected to result in death or has lasted or can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than 12 months.” In order to qualify for SSDI benefits, an individual must prove that the impairments that prevent them from working were not caused by their own drug or alcohol abuse. In short, you must have a total disability that makes you unable to work at any full-time job for a period of at least 12 straight months. Here is the checklist that I use: ___1.     Severe disability making you unable to work ___ 2.     Disability will last 12 months or longer. ___ 3.     Not directly related to drug or alcohol abuse. ___ 4.     You paid into Social Security recently enough for coverage. ___ 5.   ...

You may have heard the term "fighting for my disability benefits."  Perhaps you thought, that's a very strong term. Actually, the phrase fighting for Social Security disability accurately describes most experiences.   It's a legal fight where you, the claimant, goes up against the US government.  You want and need benefits because you aren't able to work.  The government is skeptical and demands an almost impossible burden of proof.  On top of that, they have a long record of denying about 73 percent of new claims for disability benefits.   Most claimants will literally have a legal fight, goin g through 3 different processes before they get paid. The fight may last from 12 to 36 months. As in any legal fight, your best chance to prevail is by getting an experienced and well trained advocate to lead your fight.  Social Security is going to throw things your way that you can't possibly understand because you are new to this fracas.   So, where is...

Social Security is a mega-bureauracy with thousands of rules and regulations.  Here are a few facts about Social Security disability that may help you if you are considering filing for disability benefits:   1.  You must have worked long enough and recently enough at jobs which paid into the Social Security system.  By doing this, you earn "quarters of coverage" or "work credits."  Your past 10 years of work history is crucial to determine if you have "insured status" for SSDI.   2.  Your disabling impairment(s) must have lasted or be expected to last for at least 12 straight months or be a terminal illness.  There is no benefit for a short term disability (one that will last fewer than 12 months).   3.  You must be totally disabled.  Social Security defines this as being unable to perform any work available in the national economy.  Individuals age 50 and over may find some flexibility here under the grid rules (Medical-Vocat...

Are you age 62 (or close) and thinking about taking early retirement from Social Security?  Act fast because there is tremendous pressure in Washington, DC to increase the minimum retirement age from 62 to 64. The full retirement age, at which you may start Social Security benefits with no penalty, is 67 for most individuals, depending on the year you were born.  Currently, an individual may retire as early as age 62 with a 30 percent reduction in benefits. Congress wants to change that, making age 64 the earliest you could retire on Social Security. What's this all about?  It's about money deficits:  the Social Security trust funds are being exhausted.  The Social Security Administration operates two trust funds from which benefits are paid:  the Retirement Trust Fund and the Disability Trust Fund. Every so often, the US government estimates how long these trust funds will be able to pay full benefits to eligible Americans.  According to the latest es...

Out of each 100 disability claims filed in 2022, 73 were denied by Social Security.  That's a dismal approval rate of 27 percent. Here's where the numbers get brighter:  For every 100 denials that were appealed and taken before a judge, 54 won.   So, when you get before a federal judge, your odds of winning are 54 percent!  That's the national average.  Keep in mind that most of those appeals were prepared and represented by attorneys or well qualified non-attorney advocates.  Does that make a difference? A recent study by the Us Government Accountability Office (GAO) finds that claimants represented by professional counsel are 3X as likely to win. Two obvious conclusions stand out here: One :  Appeal every denial.  Every denial.  The law gives you 60 days to appeal any decision you disagree with.  If you don't appeal, you lose your best chance to win. Two :  Hire a professional who knows the law to help you.  You won't be char...

Here are requirements for filing a Social Security disability claim.   You have worked and earned enough work credits by paying FICA tax on your wages.  This gives you "insured status" with Social Security.  You are not currently working and are unable to work because of severe physical and/or mental impairment. Your severe impairment (a) has already lasted at least 12 straight months, (b) is medically expected to last at least 12 straight months, or (c) will end in death. You are unable to perform any of your past work. You are unable to perform any other types of work in the US economy. In addition to the above, you must have recent and current medical treatment to establish a "medically determinable impairment."  Your recent medical records must show a medical impairment that is verified by objective medical evidence.  Note:  "Recent medical treatment" means treatment which has occurred within the last 3 to 6 months. Hopefully, you are continuing to see...

In Social Security disability, the most common denials are medical denials.  This means that Social Security doesn't believe the medical evidence in your case meets the exacting standards for an award of disability.  There are technically two kinds of medical denials: 1.  You are able to perform some of your past relevant work.  They have looked at your work history for the past 15 years and judged that your medical conditions permit you to perform one or more of your past jobs.  This is what we call a "Step 4 denial." 2.  You are not able to perform any of your past work - but there is other work in the national economy that you are able to do.  This is called a "Step 5 denial" because it occurs at the 5th and final "step" in the decision making process. There are other types of denials, not nearly as common as the two above.  We sometimes think of these as "automatic" denials or "technical denials."  They are not medical decisions...

Nothing guarantees that you will be approved for Social Security disability.  However, there are some things you can do to improve your chances.  I am listing those things here, in their order of importance based on my decades of experience. 1.  Get an experienced Social Security disability lawyer or representative.  A 2017 study by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that claimants are 3 times more likely to be approved if they use a professional representative. Nothing else that you can do will improve your odds this much! 2.   Be sure you meet the basic or general requirements before you file.  What is your Date Last Insured or DLI?  Will your disabling medical condition last for at least 12 straight months, or is it expected to end in death?   Have you stopped working at Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA)?   If you are under age 50, are you now medically unable to perform any and all work which exists in the U.S. economy...

A Social Security hearing takes place before a federal administrative law judge.  It is the third stage of a disability claim, which has been already been denied twice by the time it reaches the hearing level. Since more claims are paid at the hearing level than anywhere else, you must be prepared for this legal procedure. It will involve technical issues that most claimants are not prepared to handle. The purpose of the hearing is for the federal judge to apply specific rules and regulations of the law to your case.  For example:  do you meet a Listing?  Is a finding of disability directed by a medical-vocational guideline?  Did you have insured status with the Social Security Administration at your alleged onset date?  According to the Dictionary of Occupational Titles, what jobs in the United States are you still able to perform--based on your age, education, past work experience and residual functional capacity (RFC).  One of the main goals at the ...