Stanley F. Denman’s Answers

Attorney Farrell's comment seems to imply that the question related to Appeals Council review of the claim on its own, not in response to a claimant request for Appeals Council review. My understanding of the question is that the claimant did in fact appeal the 2nd denial to the Appeals Council. Therefore, IMO the negative prediction of Appeals Council action does not apply to the question. If the Appeals Council sent a case back to an ALJ with specific instructions, and the ALJ in fact...

An accurate and complete answer requires that you indicate what type of disability you are on: is it private, long-term disability benefits through a prior job, is it Disability Insurance Benefits, is it Supplemental Security Income (SSI)? I am going to assume that when you say "on disability" you are receiving disability benefits from the Social Security Administration. In a nutshell, your change in marital status will not matter to any of the disability programs EXCEPT SSI. SSI is a needs-...

Bipolar syndrome can be the basis for an award of Supplemental Security Income based upon disability.

I agree with the general thrust of my fellow attorneys that it is usually more prudent to file than not, and that the medical treatment issue can be addressed after filing. No one noted, however, that the claimant indicated she works as a litigation secretary, albiet on a part-time basis since 2009. That will be most significant: SSA may not accept the application based upon work activity. Agree, however, that the claimant still should file if you believes that she is disabled.

I believe the question is simply this: will there be an "offset" of any kind once the claimant is receiving both ex-spouse benefits and continued alimony as a matter of course. There is none. There is a court alimony order that controls the payment of alimony required. You need to look at that order to see if there is a reduction of the alimony based upon receipts of social security benefits. A family law attorney could perhaps better advise you on this.

You are presenting the question without enough detail. I assume that the social security administration in fact made a determination as to whether said stepchild qualified for survivor's benefits in the case you present, and that in fact they determined that the step child was not eligible. The 50% SSA spoke of is the "dependency requirement" for survivor's benefits that was a part of the Contract with America legislation enacted by the newt Gingrich House in 1996. Those if you have already...

You should apply for social security disability benefits even if you know that worker's compensation benefits that you are currently receiving will completely offset the social security disability benefits. This is the wiser course for two reasons: (i) you could run out of earnings for social security disability purposes if you wait for the workers compensation to end and (ii) if you are approved for social security disability while you are still receiving workers compensation, then once the...

You must have a medically determinable impairment that prevents you from any work to qualify for social security disability benefits. Social security rulings will NOT allow benefit payment if you are disabled due to drug and/or alcohol addiction. Many people with drug and alcohol problems have an underlying mental impairment like depression, PTSD, anxiety disorder, etc (so-called "Dual Diagnosis"). If you bear a diagnosis that includes mental or physical problems that affect your ability to...

Since you cannot give all your life circumstance here, I encourage you to visit the social security administration with your problem. The two major disablity-based benefit programs are disability insurance benefits (SSDI) and supplemental security income (SSI). You should definity check with social security to be sure that you do not have enough credits for SSDI (I could not tell WHEN you were told you lacked sufficient credits.

I am sorry to hear of your difficulties. Social security turns most claimants down the first time they apply, so you shouldn't give up. Your working, however, will effect whether you are granted social security disability benefits. While there are rules that allow "some" work and continued disability benefits, in general working and drawing social security disability or SSI just don't mix.