Survivor Benefits

Most people don't know what they are entitled to receive after a loved one passes away who was collecting Social Security benefits.  This article explains what one should do under those circumstances.

Unum LTD Approval

We were able to secure long term disability (“LTD”) benefits for a 47 year old Vice President of Human Resources from Glen Cove. After we took over the case, we advised Unum about the claimant’s various limitations that we were documenting due to the claimant’s rheumatoid arthritis (“RA”) and vocal cord nodules. Unum was unaware that the claimant was required to elevate her legs due to swelling from the RA, and was restricted in her speaking and needing a quiet environment to be heard due to the nodules. Rapidly developing the evidence regarding those limitations led to a quick approval, which was especially difficult in light of COVID. 

Navigating LTD can be very difficult, which is why it is in your best interest to retain an attorney who specializes in disability law. If you find yourself in need of applying for your long term disability, please call my office for a free phone consultation. We have offices conveniently located on Long Island in both Nassau and Suffolk counties.

Federal Court Remand

Even though the Social Security Administration (“SSA”) agreed that the decision of administrative law judge (“ALJ”) Andrew Weiss was indefensible, it took over two years for U.S. District Judge Joan Azrack to remand the decision, which the ALJ issued over three years ago. The complete decision is available on my website.

Form Over Substance

A 54 year old sanitation worker from North Babylon with various orthopedic impairments retained us after his Social Security Disability ("SSD") application was denied. Nothing unusual about the case except that we filed over 2,000 pages of treatment records, much of which were hospital records.  The substance of the file was not unlike many similar claims that were denied by the State agency.  It may be that regardless of the materiality of the documentation submitted, when a very large volume of paper is filed, the State agency feels more confident about the credibility of the claim.

This is another example of why it is important to retain a disability attorney when you apply for SSD.  Even though it may seem obvious to you that you are disabled, you cannot get approved without support from your doctors.  An attorney who specializes in disability can discern what information is needed from your doctors to get your claim approved.  If you are thinking about applying for SSD, please call my office for a free phone consultation.  We have offices conveniently located on Long Island in both Nassau and Suffolk counties.

 

Superior Service at Melville

We have posted blogs about the ineptness of some of the Social Security district offices. But we also like to give credit, where credit is due. I called the Melville district office today regarding a claim that we had recently filed, and was lucky enough to reach Mrs. Craven who works there. Not only did Mrs. Craven fix the mistake that someone else made when processing our client's claim, but she also went out of her way to correct a mistake that was made by someone at the Patchogue district office, who was incapable of correcting their mistake. This is not the first time that Mrs. Craven has helped me, and I hope it won't be the last. She is professional, courteous, and most of all, she knows what she's doing. Problems that pose a particular issue for other representatives she is able to fix in a few minutes. Why can't we expect every SSA representative to perform as well as she. We greatly appreciate Mrs. Craven's knowledge and help, and hope that others can follow her example. Thank you Mrs. Craven.

by Susan Golden

Common Sense

According to Webster’s, common sense is sound and prudent judgment based on a simple perception of the situation or facts. It is astounding how often the State agency exhibits a lack of common sense when evaluating Social Security Disability (“SSD”) applications.

I represent a 59 year old from Freeport, who suffered spine injuries from a motor vehicle accident (“MVA”) on October 11, 2018. The State agency said an MRI from May 19, 2019, supported the claimant’s SSD application, but only found the claimant disabled as of February 19, 2019. 

Common sense dictates that the spine injuries arose from the MVA. Even the administrative law judge was baffled by the State agency’s onset date of February 19, 2019. There was no evidence that the claimant’s condition got worse as of February 19, 2019. There was no medical opinion that could support finding that the claimant was able to work after the MVA. There was no other accident or physically traumatic events between the MVA and onset date.

Navigating Social Security can be very difficult, which is why it is in your best interest to retain an attorney who specializes in disability law.  If you find yourself in need of applying for SSD, please call my office for a free phone consultation.  We have offices conveniently located on Long Island in both Nassau and Suffolk counties.

 

Patchogue Ineptness Continues

We represent a veteran, who was approved in February for Social Security Disability ("SSD") and Supplemental Security Income ("SSI") benefits.  When a person is approved for benefits, it usually takes Social Security ("SS") a while to process and calculate the retroactive and monthly benefits.  It can take even longer when you are approved for both SSD and SSI. However, it has been eight months since our client was approved, and yet he still has not received his retroactive benefits, which he so desperately needs, and he has just started to receive his monthly benefits. 

It would be a gross understatement to say the handling of our client's payments by the Patchogue District office has been a comedy of errors.  Our client's first SSI check was sent to an address where he has not lived for many years, even though SS had the updated address in his file. 

 

To add insult to injury, our client was supposed to have his first monthly SSD check directly deposited into his bank account on October 3, 2020, but on Friday, we learned from the Patchogue District office that the check had been mailed. We asked Patchogue how this could happen becauase we had confirmed our client's bank account information with various people at the Patchogue office multiple times.  Patchogue said that they have two different systems for SSI and SSD, and whoever initially took the updated information, only entered it into the SSI system.  Patchogue also said that whoever updated the address into the SSD system, never updated the banking information.  So once again, we confirmed that Patchogue had the correct banking information and address, so that our client's November check would be direct deposited.  Patchogue told us that our client would receive the check by this past Monday or Tuesday.  

 

Today is Wednesday.  I received a phone call from my client, who was understandably furious.  Even though we confirmed his address with Patchogue last Friday, they mailed his check to the wrong address again!  It's like banging your head against the wall.    

 

Patchogue's mishandling of this matter is utterly reprehensible, incompetent, and unprofessional.  Are they truly that inept at their jobs, or do they just not care?  I am certain that if their paychecks kept getting mailed to the wrong address, then they would be very angry.  

 

Sadly, Patchogue's actions reflect their lack of concern and respect for their constituents, including their Veterans.  Our client became disabled in the line of duty.  Is this really how he should be treated?  I am appalled and disgusted at Patchogue's misconduct.