Social Security Info.

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone,

Someone in a recent post said they didn't know how lawyers charge to handle

Social Security disability cases. Well let me pass along what I know as I

have been dealing and educating myself on all this since last July.

BY LAW Social Security will only allow your attorney to be paid 25 percent

of your initial, lump sum payment up to a MAXIMUM of 4,000 dollars. That

sounds like a lot but when approved, your first check is usually extremely

large because it goes back months, I believe, from the time you were

disabled. I believe there is a limit to how far back but that is the gist

of it. You may be required to give the attorney some up front type money

to pay for things like charges by doctors to make copies or write reports,

etc. My attorney hasn't done this but I know some do. The money is put

into some sort of escrow account, you get the interest, and when it's all

said and done -- IT'S YOUR MONEY so at some point you should get back what

wasn't needed PLUS INTEREST.

Also, realize that by disability Social Security means THEIR definition of

the word which is you are unable to do ANY kind of meaningful work ANYWHERE

in the national economy. " Meaningful " defined as making more that, I

think, 740 dollars per month. Now I had read recently that the previous

dollar amounts I mentioned, for paying the lawyer AND meaningful work was

to be increased a bit on January 1 of this year but I don't know if it

actually happened.

There is a lot more to this if you are interested and here are two

resources I recommend if you want to check things out for yourself. The

first is an organization called NOSSCR (pronounced Nahs Cur) which stands

for National Association of Social Security Claimants

Representatives. They have a web site at, I believe, nosscr.com. They are

a referral group to lawyers in your area who specialize in handling Social

Security Disability cases. That is where I got the name of the lawyer I

have retained. I have heard that you can have a lawyer in a different part

of the country represent you effectively if there isn't one close by. I

don't know how this works but somehow it does.

The second resource is an email list right here on . The

moderator(s) I think is a past employee of Social Security and is herself

disabled. This group handles all questions regarding Social Security AND

Long Term Disability insurance policies. They even have a lawyer or two on

the list. The list is called disinissues-L and you can probably find it if

you go to and search from there. This list is extremely

helpful and knowledgeable BUT it is the strictest and tightest run group I

have ever been on BY FAR. They have a big list of rules that are strictly

enforced but they say that is to keep the members identities safe and the

list on focus. If you can get past this gestapo-like, letter of the law

type of control, I HIGHLY recommend this list. The information contained

there and the large amount of extremely useful links to related sites and

info on attaining disability is unequalled anywhere that I know of. My

attitude on that list is bite your lip and LEARN. By no means is it a

support group, at least emotionally, but man the info and resources are top

notch.

Hope all this helps someone out who may be seeking or wondering about how

to get disability or just curious if they even would qualify. One more

thing, don't tell them I sent you! Seriously. Their privacy fetish is so

strong they might think I have somehow compromised something just by

telling you as much as I have already. But again, I HIGHLY recommend this

list for, if nothing else, REALISTIC AND DEPENDABLE INFORMATION.

Kossart - RA, Type-2 Diabetes

Peru, Il, USA