My wife has been out of work for 4 months and left her job because of stress related reasons. SHe’s not in the best shape, and while I’m thinking she isn’t completely and permanently disabled, there is a distinct possibility at least that she is. (diabetic, incapable of walking more than a couple blocks, unable to do much physical lifting, two neck surgeries to fuse vertebrae, pain in hips and legs)
I’m vaguely aware that people on disability cannot have more then $2000 to there name; but frankly, I’m pretty clueless of that rule, and don’t know if it only applies to people without a work record.
So, shes 55, been working for 25-30 years. We are in a bit of a financial strain because she isn’t working (I don’t think she would be working even without the Covid situation…so lets just consider that Covid is irrelevant). Would we as a couple have to lose all of our assets, savings, my retirement before she could get disability payments? Or, because of her age and the fact that she has worked and earned ‘credits’ that she could start on disability without us spending our resources.
I assume you’re talking about Social Security disability.
One thing I do know is that this is pretty hard to get up front; you have to make a REALLY good case for it. And even then I’ve heard they reject a large percentage of cases whether it’s appropriate or not; you need to expect to file an appeal, and perhaps bring in a lawyer.
I did a little reading on the topic recently because we’re encouraging our daughter to look into this.
Regular SSDI (Social Security Disability Insurance) is based on work credits; assuming your wife has met a certain number of work quarters she should be OK there. It is NOT means-based.
SSI (Supplemental Security Income) is means-based.
From here: “The major difference is that SSI determination is based on age/disability and limited income and resources, whereas SSDI determination is based on disability and work credits.”
The $2000 limit applies to people on Supplemental Security Income (SSI), a program for aged and disabled people with limited income/resources who do NOT have enough work credits for “regular” Social Security Disability Income (SSDI).
If your wife has been working full-time for 20+ years, she has enough work credits for SSDI, and there are no resource limits or spenddowns involved, so no, neither her individually nor you as a couple would need to lose assets or savings.
Both programs use the same disability standards, and they are tough to meet; only about 24% of applications are approved at the initial stage, although multiple rounds of appeals raises the percentage of approvals to about half for SSDI and a third for SSI. Has your wife discussed her situation with her doctor(s) or other providers? Their records will be vitally important.
Implicit in this is that the process can take a long time. It’s not like you apply, get approved, and start getting checks in a few weeks. What I have seen is with the rejection and appeals process, you could be looking at many many (many) months.
Get a lawyer, look online, there will be more than one in your area who can help. They will get paid from your benefits so don’t worry about the cost. It usually takes 6 months to a year but can happen sooner. She has to talk to all her doctors ahead of time and see what they say. Records will be requested from all of them and some may be required to specify why she cannot work.
Sometimes, it goes surprisingly smoothly, so it’s definitely worth a shot. I don’t want to give you false hope, but a friend of mine with 15 years of a solid work record had a breakdown after three events hit her at once, and she was hospitalized for depression and a suicide attempt.
Her employer dismissed her from her previous job, with two weeks severance pay, and did offer her another position, at a greatly reduced wage. The psychiatrist she was seeing said that she would probably get more if she got on disability, and frankly, he thought the position sounded stressful.
So she applied, was approved, and got her first direct deposit four months later. I have no idea why she was that lucky, other than that it was a combination of the contrast between her previous record, and where she was after her disabling events, and whatever it was that her doctors said. For all I know, he said something like, if she had to return to work, the stress could trigger another suicide attempt-- I don’t know that, mind you-- I’m just speculating that her doctor said something that was really convincing.
So, 1) the people who make the decision like a solid work history; and 2) having the support of your doctors matters a lot. But if you have those, you can get lucky. She’s had two reviews since, and gotten re-approved, and the second was even after she returned to work for 10-15 hours a week.
I’ve been personally involved with two people applying for SSDI.
The first was a cousin, who had issues very similar to what the OP has described. She had brain surgery for an aneurysm and shortly thereafter began experiencing stress, was unable to work, and basically moved in with her elderly mother. It took about 8 years, but the SSA finally awarded her disability payments.
My late wife was diagnosed with anaplastic astrocytoma (brain tumor). This is actually listed as one of the terminal medical conditions that immediately qualify one for SSDI. She was approved and receiving payments in less than two months.
If you think she might be eligible, might as well apply sooner rather than later. The earliest she could receive benefits will be related to her application date. And there will undoubtedly be a huge increase in applications now into the near future.
As others stated, the asset requirements apply only to SSI, NOT if she has a sufficient earnings record.
Short version.
File first yourself. It’ll be declined if your body is still warm.
Then go to a lawyer, who is essentially the jury, If they take your case, you win.
Wait a year, during which the lawyer won’t return your calls.
Then your case will come up and the lawyer fee is a percentage or your retroactive back benefits for as long as he can drag his heels.
You COULD generalize that if no atty will take your case, you probably don’t have much of a case. Or - at least - it is not likely to generate sufficient fees. However, the mere fact of being represented in no way guarantees a favorable decision.
No ALJ (of whom I am one and know many) pays anywhere near 100% of represented cases, or denies anywhere near 100% of unrepped cases. I’m not even sure what the difference is in pay rates for repped and unrepped claimants. In most cases, whether or not the individual is disabled reflects the evidence - NOT the atty’s efforts. It is relatively rare that an atty points out some law or fact that changes my view of a case.
In at least some cases (actually, more than a few), the attys are so irritating or incompetent that it can be a challenge to overlook the atty and pay an otherwise deserving claimant.
About the only thing I really know about the process is that you need to start ASAP. If and when the claim is approved, it will be back dated to the initial date of the claim. If you change your mind at any point, it is very simple to to drop your claim. I have heard that you can file online, but I am not clear on that. Good luck!
Talk to an attorney now. Obviously some people have had poor experiences with them, but for me they were tremendously helpful. They filed for me and I got through the process in a few months. As mentioned, I did not pay them. It’s my understanding that the process is much more likely to make it through on the first attempt with an attorney than it is without one.
Attorneys will want to speak to her doctors. It’s very helpful if you can pull together as much information as you can on who they are, and any diagnoses given. Mine gave me a list of things that they wanted me to bring for the first meeting.
I can give you references for good firms in OR and CA. DM me if that would me helpful.
That WAS lucky. I had a nervous breakdown (episode of decomposition) resulting in hospitalization about five years ago and the standards for getting SSI were high - like you had to go through three episodes over five years and show a long term history of not getting better. My aunt struggled for fifteen years before SSI was approved - hospitalized multiple times with multiple suicide attempts. I didn’t bother because I didn’t need the income and applying for SSI would have been added stress I didn’t need…and I eventually fell into something low stress from home which pays about half of what I was making, but again, don’t need the income… but getting SSI for any sort of anxiety related disorder is usually tough.
Thanks for everyone’s assistance.
Can I confirm that we at least should talk to a lawyer, and that this would be no cost to us if they decide to take the case? Is that what I’m hearing people say?
Even if she is not deemed disabled and it is appealed and still denied, we would NOT be on the hook for lawyer fees? THat doesn’t really sound plausible to me, so I wanted to confirm if that was true.
Sure - talk to a lawyer if you wish. But you don’t NEED a lawyer to file. And many lawyers won’t want to rep you until you’ve been denied initially and on recon. There simply is not enough back benefits to make it worth their while. W/ DIB, you COULD get back bens back 1 year before your filing date. The rep could get 25% of that.
Fuck, you can apply over the phone. Why do you need to talk to a lawyer to do that? You can always start calling lawyers the next day. If you win on initial review, you saved yourself 25% of any back bens.
The initial consult is certainly free. Down the line, an atty CAN ask you to pay certain costs, such as obtaining records. But beyond that, if you don’t win, you owe nothing. Contingent fee.
And unless you filed a claim recently, you might not know the backlog - and processing time - is WAY down. The wait between application and hrg date is FAR less than it was just a couple of years back (tho I’m sure many would think it still too long.) The attys don’t want it moving much quicker than it is. See above - not enough fees for them.
I callled it the Short Version for a reason – I left out myriad exceptions to the typical pattern. When the cumulative back-benefits reach the cap, he says Giddyup.
There’s a cap that they can charge. The fees come out of your back benefits. There is no charge (or should be none) for the first visit. At the first visit, you will also cover whether or not you will owe anything. I believe that my attorney would not have charged me. Others may differ, but federal law comes into this, so I am not sure. A good attorney should tell you whether there are problems with your case, as well. As mentioned above, if you use an attorney the wait for review is usually cut down to months as opposed to years.
What I am saying is that it can’t hurt to talk to an attorney, but not talking to one could cost you time and money.
And the basis for this assertion? Because that has not been my experience WRT the course of many thousands of disability cases I’ve personally handled over the past decade.
If we want to swap anecdata, I could name several active local counsel who act in ways that PROLONG the process. Why? Because there is money in it for them. Or is disability law the one area in which we all agree that lawyers are generous philanthropists… :rolleyes: