Getting your Social Security Benefits

18 Jun Getting your Social Security Benefits

Social security benefits help millions of people who are retired and disabled. Getting them, however, can be a real chore. It would seem, to many individuals who apply, that the default government answer is “no” and that no benefits are ever awarded save to those who are of an advanced age. In reality, the requirements aren’t impossible, they’re just very specific. Social security is designed to protect those who cannot fend for themselves against the ravages of poverty. Sometimes, however, you’ll need a bit of help getting those benefits.

The Social Security Administration gives out benefits only in specific circumstances. Generally, you have to be injured or disabled to the extent that you cannot perform any productive work. This means that you must be in real danger to life and limb in a work situation; it doesn’t mean that work is simply hard for you to do. To prove this, you do sometimes need to go to court. If you’ve gotten one of the many rejection letters that the Social Security Administration sends out every day, it may be time for you to get a social security disability lawyer who can help you fight for your rights.

You’ll have 60 days to appeal any negative decision rendered by the Social Security Administration. This isn’t much time, of course, and it’s sometimes better to just get a lawyer right away and to assume that you’ll be denied. While disabled means one thing to doctors, it means something entirely different to the Social Security Administration. In fact, to them, it means that you cannot work at all. A doctor may call you disabled but, in the end, you may not be disabled enough to satisfy the demands required of those who receive Social Security benefits.

Depending upon your case, you may need various types of representation. If your injury was due to a car accident, a social security attorney should be your first stop before claiming benefits. If your injury was due to poor working conditions, you may want to hire a disability insurance lawyer who deals with specific industries, such as social security lawyers. If Social Security has turned you down, remember that there are ways to appeal that decision and that there are other potential sources of financial relief to whom you can turn. A good attorney can help you find them and to claim what monies are rightfully yours.