Social Security Disability Attorney in North Carolina and South Carolina
If you have a disability that prevents you from earning an adequate income, you may be eligible for Social Security disability (SSD) benefits. While applying for SSD benefits may be a long process, if eligible, the benefits can help sustain you and your family while you are unable to work due to a serious or severe medical condition. However, not everyone is eligible to receive social security disability benefits and many applicants are denied benefits. Unfortunately, some people who are denied disability benefits are in fact eligible to receive them!
Attorney Brian Steed Tatum is very familiar with the SSD process and understands the eligibility requirements that must be met in order to receive these benefits. Please contact our offices today for a case evaluation. If you meet certain eligibility requirements, even if you have been denied benefits in the past, we can still help.
Eligibility for Social Security Disability Benefits
A person who has worked and paid taxes into Social Security for a certain period of time may qualify for disability benefits. The Social Security Administration uses a step-by-step process, answering five questions, to determine eligibility for disability beneficiaries.
First, the Social Security Administration will look at whether or not you are working. If you are working and making over the threshold income amount, generally you will not be able to receive disability benefits and your application will be denied. If you are working and not meeting the monthly income threshold, or if you are not working at all, the application will be sent to a Disability Determination Services (DDS) office in your state. The DDS office will make a decision about your medical condition.
Next, the DDS office will determine if your condition is severe. The medical condition must interfere with basic work-related activities. If the medical condition does not interfere with work-related activities, the application will be denied and benefits may not be available.
The Social Security Administration maintains a list of medical conditions for each major body system. If these conditions are severe, then this automatically means that you are disabled. After a determination that your medical condition is indeed severe, the DDS will see if your condition is on the list. If your medical condition is not on the list, the DDS must do a comparison and determine whether or not your medical condition is equally severe to one of the conditions on the list.
If your medical condition is severe, but not equally as severe as a medical condition on the list, then the DDS will determine if the medical condition interferes with your ability to do the work that you previously did prior to your medical condition.
Finally, if you are unable to do the work that you did in the past, then the DDS will determine if you would be able to adjust to other work. The DDS will generally take into consideration age, education, past work experience, and any other transferable skill that you may have that can be used in other work.
Consulting an Experienced Social Security Disability Attorney
If you or a family member meets the above criteria, disability benefits may be available. Going through the disability benefits application process by yourself can be demanding on you and your family if you have a serious medical condition. At the Tatum Law Firm, we want to help make this process go as smoothly as possible and help you obtain your benefits quickly.
Our experienced Social Security disability attorney Brian Steed Tatum has helped many clients determine eligibility and go through the long and sometimes difficult process of obtaining benefits. Many people who applied for Social Security benefits were denied and must go through the appeals process. Having an experienced attorney at your side can truly help make this process a little easier and less stressful.
For a free case evaluation, please contact our offices. We can be reached online or by phone at (704) 307-4350.