Social Security Disability Benefits Blog

Can You Spot the Mistake When You Filled Out Your Social Security Disability Application?

cavey — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 18:41:39 +0000

At Cavey and Barrett we routinely see mistakes that are made by Social Security Disability applicants on their application. It is important to disregard any comments you make that “I can’t work”, “No one will hiring me”. Rather, they are interested in what’s called your functional limitations. What are functional limitations:

Can you sit, can you stand, can you bend, can you twist, can you walk, do you have to alternate positions?
If so, how often long can you do any of these activities?
Will they interfere with your ability to function? If so, give examples.

The Social Security Administration wants proof that you have difficulty functioning that eliminates your ability to do the lightest job that you’ve had in the last fifteen years or limits your ability to work in a job that exists in the national economy.

It’s therefore, cruicial that you fill out all your Social Security Disability forms accurately.

Tampa Bay Social Security Disability attorney, Sharon Barrett, worked for the Social Security Administration as a staff attorney for many years. She reviewed many inaccurate or incomplete Social Security Disability applications whose claims have been denied. Those denials could have been prevented if the Social Security Disability examiner had been given the right information about functional limitations so that they could make a quick and accurate decision on the Social Security Disability claim.

For more information on the Social Security Disability claims process, and completing your initial application, you can order Cavey and Barrett’s free no obligation guide Your Rights to Social Security Disability Benefits.

If you would like more information about your rights regarding Social Security Disability Benefits, you can order our FREE book,"Your Rights to Social Security Disability Benefits" by submitting the form in the sidebar. We will send it out immediately along with other important information.

For more information about Social Security Disability Benefits, visit our law firm web site at CaveyLaw.com. If you would like to speak with one of our Social Security Disability Benefits attorneys about your case, feel free to call us anytime at (727) 897-9117 or simply submit our contact form and we will get back to you quickly.

What’s the Fifth and Last Step in the Social Security Administrations Five Step Sequential Evaluation to Determine Whether I am entitled to Social Security Disability Benefits?

cavey — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 18:08:40 +0000

The Social Security Administration isn’t interested in whether or not you can actually find a job in the labor market or whether anyone would hire you. This is a mythical analysis! As Cavey and Barrett explain in their book Your Right to Social Security Disability Benefits, the fifth and final question the Social Security Administration asks to determine whether or not you are entitled to Social Security Disability benefits is whether you have the ability to perform other types of work considering your physical capabilities, age, medical condition and education.

If it’s determined that your Residual Functional Capacity is so limited that you can’t do your past relevant or other work activity in the national economy, you will be found to be disabled by the Social Security Administration.

For more information about the Social Security Disability claims process, contact attorney Sharon Barrett at your Gulfport Social Security Disability law firm Cavey and Barrett.

Is Your Social Security Disability Claim Vulnerable because Your Social Security Disability Attorney Doesn’t Know the Ten Things that Should be Done in Every Social Security Claim?

cavey — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 15:30:09 +0000

Social Security Disability law is complicated and time consuming. However, having an Social Security Disability attorney on your side, such as Sharon Barrett, she knows that there are ten things that should be done in every Social Security Disability claim:

Personally meet to discuss your Social Security Disability claim.
Explain the Social Security Disability claims process and explain a strategy that should be implemented to win your claim.
Get a copy of your Social Security file from the Social Security Administration.
Get a copy of your medical records.
Assess your claim and determine whether or not it will meet Social Security Disability rules.
File all necessary papers with the Social Security Administration.
Timely appeal any denial of your claim.
Timely request a hearing if your claim is denied after a Request for Reconsideration.
Prepare a comprehensive Memorandum of Law with medical documentation supporting your claim for Social Security Disability benefits.

10. Prepare you for a hearing in front of the administrative law judge and make sure that your case is presented in the best light possible.

If your lawyer doesn’t understand the Social Security Disability claims process, or hasn’t taken these steps in handling your Social Security Disability claim, you may not have the right attorney to help you in your Social Security Disability claim.

Sharon Barrett, a former Social Security Disability staff attorney in the Tampa Bay office, knows what it takes to create a winning Social Security Disability claim. Give us a call today or fill out the contact form on the contact page to get in touch with us right away about your disability needs.

How does Social Security Disability Define Past Work and Why is it Important in my Social Security Disability Claim?

cavey — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 13:42:50 +0000

When you file for Social Security Disability benefits you are going to be asked to complete a work history that provides a job description of the mental and physical demands of your job.

Why?

The Social Security Administration requires that they determine, in every Social Security Disability claim at step four of the five step sequential evaluation whether or not you can return to your past relevant work. That’s work that you performed for three months or more.

In step four of the five step sequential evaluation, the disability examiner asks whether or not you can return to the lightest job you’ve held in the last fifteen years. If the answer is yes, your Social Security Disability claim will be denied!

If the answer is no, then you move to step five of the five step sequential evaluation which is explained in greater detail in Cavey and Barrett’s book Your Rights to Social Security Disability Benefits. Click the link to get your FREE copy today!

Give Me Five Minutes and I’ll Give You Five Tips for Finding the Right Social Security Disability Attorney to Represent You in Your Social Security Disability Claim

cavey — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 20:15:20 +0000

There is no doubt about it! The Social Security Disability law is complicated and you really do need to hire a Social Security Disability attorney who is right for you. Here are five tips you need to know about finding the right lawyer for you. Ask:

1. Are you a lawyer or a claims representative?

Answer: Claims representatives can represent individuals in Social Security Disability claims, but at Cavey and Barrett we believe that having a lawyer represent you who is familiar with the Social Security Disability regulations, rulings and cases is crucial.

2. Ask how many disability hearings the lawyer has handled?

Answer: The Social Security Disability lawyer should have handled at least over 100 Social Security Disability claims.

3. Do you have the experience with the type of medical problem I am having?

Answer: It is crucial that the Social Security Disability attorney you hire is familiar with the medical condition that is causing your disability. That includes not only the diagnosis of your condition, but how it impacts your ability to function physically or emotionally.

4. Is the attorney going to have an assistant who is going to be working with them?

Answer: It is common that a skilled Social Security Disability attorney will have a paralegal or case manager that will work up your case. They will be responsible for gathering information about your case and monitoring what’s happening- of course at the direction of the attorney.

Your attorney should regularly review your file and be in communication with you.

5. Will my lawyer be with me at a Social Security Disability hearing?

Answer: I know this is an odd question, but there are some claims representative companies who hold themselves out as being skilled advocates but who, in reality, don’t attend hearings because they ask the judge to make a decision based on the written record. Others, will let you attend the hearing by yourself. In the opinion of Sharon Barrett, former Social Security Disability staff attorney that’s playing with fire. While we do ask that the judge make a decision based on the record that we’ve compiled- which is voluminous, we always ask for a hearing and plan on presenting your case personally to the Social Security Administration judge. We know that you are paying our legal fees and we think that you deserve to have your case heard, personally by an administrative law judge and to be prepared to answer all the administrative law judge’s questions.

At Cavey and Barrett your Palm Harbor, Port Richey and New Port Richey Social Security Disability attorneys, we prepare you for any hearing in front of the administrative law judge and we are there with you, right beside you, at any Social Security Disability hearing.