INFO - Lawyer/representative fee agreement for SSI and SSDI cases

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Social Security Online

Your Right to Representation

Feb 2010

Excerpt:

What your representative may charge you

To charge you a fee for services, your representative first must file

either a fee agreement or a fee petition with us.

Your representative cannot charge you more than the fee amount we

authorize. If you or your representative disagree with the fee we

authorize, either of you can ask us to look at it again.

A representative who charges or collects a fee without our

authorization, or charges or collects too much, may be suspended or

disqualified from representing anyone before the Social Security

Administration and also may face criminal prosecution.

Filing a Fee Agreement

If you and your representative have a written fee agreement, your

representative may ask us to approve it any time before we decide your

claim. Usually, we will approve the agreement and tell you in writing

how much your representative may charge as long as:

You both signed the agreement;

Your claim was approved and resulted in past-due benefits; and

The fee you agreed on is no more than 25 percent of past-due benefits

or $6,000, whichever is less.

If we do not approve the fee agreement, we will notify you and your

representative in writing.

http://www.socialsecurity.gov/pubs/10075.html#part3

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