Hello. This is Springfield, Missouri disability attorney Jason Krebs. In today’s video I thought we would share some of the most common mistakes that we see people over the age of 50 making in the social security disability process. The first mistake that we see people make, they’re over the age of 50, they go out and they apply without talking to a lawyer. You should talk to a local attorney that practices in your area.
We cover cases in all of Missouri and northern Arkansas, so we’re in front of these judges, we understand what they’re looking for, but more importantly it’s to understand that you have some positive aspects under the law when you reach your 50th birthday. If you don’t do things correctly you can waive or ruin a lot of those positive things, so it’s important to get an attorney involved early in the application process.
Second, a lot of the time people wait too long. If you were working, you quit working several years ago because your spouse had a good job, you can wait yourself out of benefits because you only have a limited amount of time before you will lose coverage under the social security disability program. It’s important that you not wait too long. Really, the maximum amount you can wait is five years. Now, that can be kind of not correct for if you have some holes in your work history, it may be shorter than that. You really need to talk to a lawyer sooner than later.
The third main area where we see problems is people just don’t document their condition well. As a lawyer, all I can do is present the evidence in the best light possible, argue the law. I can’t create evidence for you. Social security wants evidence from doctors; MDs, DOs, psychiatrists, psychologists, that kind of thing. You need to get that documentation as quickly as possible and as thoroughly as possible. You always want to be documenting your problems. Medication side effects as well.
Another main area where we see mistakes being made are people just, they don’t appeal. They keep reapplying, reapplying, reapplying and then they go back to that issue that we were talking about earlier where they wait themselves out of benefits. It’s important to get an appeal going sooner than later. You only have 60 days to ask for a hearing or a reconsideration in Arkansas. Then if that reconsideration is denied you only have 60 days to ask for a hearing as well, so you have to do it twice in Arkansas. Missouri, we don’t do that. We do have a book that you can get at https://krebslawoffice.com, or give us a call 417-883-5886 or 1-800-345-0535 and we’d be happy to get that out to you. Thanks for watching, and best of luck.