If you can’t work due to physical or mental disability, you may be entitled to receive monthly Social Security Disability benefits under U.S. law. If your request for disability benefits has been denied both at the initial level, you have a 60 day reconsideration period to get it in your favor. The disability filing process is complicated and dense, and most are denied when they file for SSD without legal assistance in the first place.
Before deciding whether to hire an attorney to handle your Social Security Disability case or not, know and understand what can happen without proper legal representation and guidance. In this article, we will be discussing 5 important things to prove to get Social Security Disability.
1. You cannot do what you’ve done in the last 15 years
To make a stronger case to get your Social Security Disability approved, you need to convince that you cannot do the same thing which you used to do earlier to make a living due to your disability. For example, if you were doing welding work for the past 15 years but due to back pain you are no longer able to do the same and do not have any special expertise which brings you back to earning capacity, such a situation will help you effectively convince them.
2. Do you have any transferrable skills?
Before applying for Social Security Disability, question yourself that do you hold any transferrable skills? A person must be able to apply knowledge or techniques learned in past jobs to other skilled or semi-skilled work to consider them as transferable skills. Someone who has worked as an administrative clerk, a semi-skilled position, may have acquired skills such as typing, filing, or operating office equipment that could be transferred to other kinds of office jobs. If you possess any transferrable skills, remember they will go against your Social Security Disability case.
3. Your Age
Your age may be an important consideration in assessing whether your Social Security Disability Benefits claim will be approved or not. Remember, being older helps. Social Security uses age categories, along with the residual functional capacity of a person (that is, the ability to do sedentary, light, medium, and heavyweight work), the skill level of an individual’s past work, and the education of the individual to determine an individual’s disability. For instance, if you’re close to 50, you have little formal education, and you’re limited to sedentary work, if you’re literate you’d most likely be denied disability, even if you haven’t done skilled work before. But if you’re close to 65, you’re less well-educated and you’re limited to sedentary work, you’ll likely get disability benefits.
4. Education
Simply, an individual who does not have an education may be limited to the number of jobs he or she may find and may be considered disabled, thus receiving benefits for disability.
5. Can they find you a job on an uninterrupted basis?
It is an important question which may affect your application. You need to see if they can provide you a job on an uninterrupted basis after your disability. For eg, can you work as a security guard, work at Walmart, or a parking inspector. These factors are relatively important. If not, you have better chances to avail of the benefits. However, proving medical records remains an important aspect to show your disability.
Hiring an Orlando based Attorney
Since most claims for social security disability are rejected, it is usually advised that you hire an attorney from the start as they can help make the whole process much easier. If you are an applicant, consult with Frank M. Eidson PA with your medical record to help you in Social Security Disability matters. You can contact us or email us directly at info@frankeidson.com.
