Reasons why Missouri residents are denied disability #4 Functional capacity form

Here is a transcript of the video Reasons why Missouri residents are denied disability #4 Functional capacity form

Hello. This is Springfield, Missouri disability attorney, Jason Krebs, with the next in our series about some of the reasons that people get denied their social security disability and what you can do to try to avoid those. Today, I want to talk about the residual functional capacity form. That’s the form that’s about 13, 14 pages, day in the life questions. This is one of those forms that is used in hearings in front of ALJ’s, that stands for Administrative Law Judges, the judges that will hear your appeal. It is used all the time to deny people, basically what they said a year, year and a half before their hearing is used to, they get raked over the coals with it at the hearing sometimes. There’s a lot of reasons for that.

The first thing I would caution you is be consistent. Be consistent in what you’re saying, on page 2 and on page 12, that it’s the same thing, and that it’s consistent with what you’re telling your doctors. If you go in there and claim that you can’t, in your paperwork, do anything effectively and then your doctor’s notes tell them that you’re doing better, that’s inconsistent. There’s a let of questions on those forms and you’re going to be like, “Why in the world are they asking me this?” There’s a reason for everything that they ask. The fact that you don’t understand why they’re asking, it doesn’t mean that it isn’t relevant or that they don’t have the right to ask it. You’re asking Uncle Sam to pay you money for the rest of your life, so he’s got the right to ask some questions.

Take you’re time. It’s kind of the old saying, “How do you eat a whale? One bite at a time.” Don’t sit down and try to do it all in one sitting, think about it, be specific. Understand that the fact that when you say you walk the dog and what you mean is, you open the back door and the dog runs out and does his business and comes back in. That’s not what a lot of folks would think of as walking the dog. Walking the dog for a mile or 2 around the neighborhood is a different thing to most people. Be specific.

Describe. If you say you’re surfing the web, that indicates that you’re sitting around on the computer all day. If you check Facebook twice a day because that’s how you get ahold of your kids, say that. Don’t make it sound like you’re sitting, playing video games all day if that’s not what you’re doing. That kind of stuff is important because if you’re sitting on the computer all day, it would indicate that you probably could do that at work. If you’re taking care of minor children, small minor children, 4 and 5 year olds, 2 year olds, they’re going to say that you could work in a daycare or babysit.

There’s a reason for everything that they ask on that form. There’s no real throw away questions. If you don’t turn that form in, you’re guaranteed to be denied. I think you need to really take your take, get a notebook out, you can download the form from Social Security and understand what the questions are, and think about it.

Again, if you’re over the age of 50, you really need to get a lawyer involved before you turn that in.

If you want to give us a call, if you’re in Missouri and Arkansas, our office number is 417-883-5886. We do have a 1-800 number, it’s 1-800-345-0535. I always have to check that. Our website, we have some downloadable information, free eBooks that you can get to help you with the appeal and the application process both, that’s at krebslawoffice.com. If we can be of help, don’t hesitate to give us a call. We wish you the best of luck. Thank you.

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