Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Benefits Despite Income

A common misconception is that you cannot receive Social Security Disability (“SSD”) Benefits if you report income. In fact, you could earn a million dollars a years from investments, rent, loan repayment or other types of passive income without any effect on your entitlement to SSD benefits. Two recent decisions illustrate just a couple of ways that a person can have income without it affecting SSD benefits. In both cases, the claimant’s application was approved without the need for a hearing.

The first case involved a 52 years old woman who had worked as an office supervisor and bookkeeper of an audio visual store that her husband opened in the late 1990’s. The claimant was on the payroll until 2006, but had stopped working at the store in 2004 because of her medical condition. I obtained a letter from the claimant’s accountant confirming that the claimant stopped working in 2004, but had been paid in 2005 and 2006 for past services. When the business started, the claimant was paid below fair market value for her services, and the subsequent payments were delayed compensation akin to a deferred dividend.

The second case involved a 60 year old woman who had worked as a secretary at her husband’s business. The claimant stopped working because of cancer, but was kept on the payroll solely to maintain health insurance. Once again, a letter from the claimant’s accountant verified that the claimant had stopped working.

When considering an onset date, the focus should be on the date when the claimant became incapable of working, not the date when the income stopped.

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