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Are you a Bessemer City resident looking to apply for Social Security Disability benefits? A lawyer from our firm would like to help. We can figure out which benefits you qualify for and then fight hard to get you the money you and your family need.
Hiring a Bessemer Social Security Disability lawyer from Farmer & Morris Law, PLLC, will cost you nothing up front. Instead, we would get right to work on figuring out the best way to pursue benefits—even if you have already been denied.
Social Security Disability Benefits and You
The term “Social Security Disability” does not refer to one type of benefit. It is an umbrella term that describes two distinct programs: Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI).
The first of these, SSDI, is paid to workers who become sick or disabled and can no longer do their jobs. Qualifying disabilities, according to the Social Security Administration (SSA), include:
- Hearing loss and/or loss of speech
- Chronic heart failure and other heart conditions
- Cancer
- Asthma, cystic fibrosis, and other respiratory disorders
- Mental disorders, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder and depression
By contrast, SSI does not require you to have a disability or any sort of work history to apply, although disabled people can qualify for it in some cases. Per the SSA, applicants for Supplemental Security Income must:
- Be retirement age or older, blind, disabled, or a combination of all three
- Have limited access to income and other financial resources (such as stocks or real estate)
- Be a disabled child (under the age of 18) living in a household that has limited access to income and financial resources
As you can see, these are two separate types of benefits. While a few applicants may qualify for both SSDI and SSI, most people should only pursue one or the other. Applying for the wrong type of benefit could cause you a great deal of frustration and unnecessarily delay your application.
If you live in Bessemer City, a Social Security Disability lawyer from Farmer & Morris, Law, PLLC, can help you avoid such an error. Our attorneys can talk to you about your situation and accurately determine what you should apply for.
Our Disability Attorneys Help People Get Social Security in North Carolina
What is the process for pursuing a Social Security Disability claim? You would have to:
- Figure out which kind of benefits (SSDI versus SSI) you qualify for
- Select the right forms to fill out and submit, along with enough evidence (such as medical records, work history, and tax filings) to prove your qualifications
- Wait for the SSA to review your application and get back to you with a decision
- Appeal a denial, if the SSA decides that you do not deserve benefits for any reason
- Attend hearings and collect additional evidence to try to convince the SSA to overturn a denial
Our team can assist you with every step of this process by providing professional, compassionate legal advice. We take the time to answer all of your questions, such as whether Disability benefits are taxable and whether you can own a business while receiving benefits.
If you want to know more about our services, we urge you to call us and get a free case review. Our team is happy to provide this service to all callers, regardless of whether they go on to hire us.
Things to Ask a Social Security Disability Lawyer
If you do decide to move beyond the free assessment by visiting our office, we encourage you to prepare ahead of time. You can write down a list of questions you would like to ask us regarding our services, the application process, our work methods, and even our pay structure.
You can also think about what you want to see and hear during the meeting. For example, is everyone friendly and respectful? Is our team able to answer your questions confidently and thoroughly?
We are sure that we can provide you with the quality of legal support you require.
If Your Disability Claim Is Denied
Even with a disability attorney from our law firm on your side, there is no guarantee that the SSA will approve your application on the first try. All too many legitimate applications end in denial, requiring the applicant to go through the appeals process.
Farmer & Morris Law, PLLC, does not give up at the first denial. If your claim is (or already has been) denied, we can continue to fight through as many levels of appeals as may be necessary to win you your benefits. These levels are:
- Reconsideration, when the SSA takes another look at your application
- Hearing, when an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) looks over your case
- Review, when the Appeals Council decides whether or not to send your case back to an ALJ
- Legal action, when the Federal District Court hears your case
Before starting down this road, our Social Security Disability attorney can figure out what caused your denial in the first place. Common reasons for denial include:
- Missing evidence: If the SSA does not have enough information to fairly evaluate your claim, they may come to the erroneous conclusion that you do not qualify for benefits.
- Misplaced paperwork: With such a large workload, it is possible that the SSA could have mislaid part of your application. We can ask them to look for it or resend your application.
- Using the wrong form: With so much paperwork and two different kinds of benefits to consider, it is easy to use the wrong application form. We ask that you let our team, which is well-acquainted with SSA paperwork, double-check your application before you send it.
Denials are certainly discouraging, but they are not the end of the line. Let our team figure out what happened and work hard to fix it.
Talk to Our Bessemer City Lawyer
If you are ready to talk to our team directly, call us now. Members of Farmer & Morris Law, PLLC, are standing by to assess your situation at no charge and to explain more about how our Bessemer City Social Security Disability lawyer can fight for you.
