If you have monthly earnings above the level of substantial gainful activity, it is problematic for your disability or SSI benefits.
For 2008, the SGA amount is $940. Earnings over that monthly amount can present real challeges to receiving benefits. Depending upon the circumstances, you can be denied benefits (or the benefits you receive
I recently filed a critical case/dire need request for a client’s claim. A critical case request asks Social Security to expedite a claim at the hearing level. Critical cases are governed by HALLEX I-2-1-40.
Critical cases get priority because they are the most serious claims. There are three situations that constitute critical cases: 1)
When I meet a new client, I often learn that the client had filed a previous Social Security disability or SSI claim that was denied, but not ever appealed. It happens quite a bit. Depending of the timing, that previous claim can often be reopened. When a claim is reopened, it is like it was appealed in the first place and remains pending.
Reopening is governed by 20 C.F.R. 404.988.
A denied claim may be reopened within 12 months for any reason. The 12 month period runs from the date of the initial denial of the prior claim.
If there is good cause, a prior disability claim can be reopened within 4 years. An SSI claim can be reopened within 2 years for good cause. In most cases, "new and material" evidence is the basis for a finding of good cause.
Let's look at an example of reopening.Continue Reading Reopening a Prior Claim
I talked recently with two Social Security disability claimants with chronic fatigue syndrome. One claimant had Lyme disease, the other was a cancer survivor. Both are disabled due to chronic fatigue.
Chronic fatigue syndrome does not fit neatly into the Social Security disability evaluation process. Nevertheless, chronic fatigue can certainly provide the basis for a
Your onset date is the date your disability began. The date represents a confluence of when you were not working at SGA and when you had a medically determinable impairment that is expected to last a year or more.
The “alleged” onset date is selected at the time of filing a disability claim. Once you
This is a blog about my practice as a Social Security disability lawyer. The information and advice on this site is general in nature, and may not be suitable for your particular circumstances.
The material on this site is intended to be informational. It is not legal advice.
Reading this website does not create an
As discussed in the previous post, step 4 of Social Security’s sequential evaluation process is a determination of your ability to return to your past relevant work. Your “past relevant work” is work you have performed in the past 15 years at the SGA level.
All Social Security does at this step is compare your
A real life example of an unsuccessful work attempt may help to illustrate why this topic is so important. This example is one of my cases that is currently pending in Maine at the Reconsideration level.
This claim has an alleged onset date of 10/20/2006. However, from 5/18/2007 – 9/18/2007 this claimant returned to work
If you have worked at the SGA level at any time since the alleged onset date of your Social Security disability claim, it can be problematic for your claim. You must have a 12 month period of disability (or a condition which is expected to result in death) to qualify for Social Security disability. That
Being disabled means you can’t work. Step 1 of Social Security’s 5-step sequential evaluation process is a determination of whether or not you are working. To make that determination, Social Security looks at whether you are engaged in substantial gainful activity (SGA). If you are an employee and a making more than this amount each