(REMASTERED) 1.15.12. (Judge; backpay; federal process)

0:21 Good day, Good day, and welcome to another edition of Q and Day Social Security Disability Today. I am your host, attorney Anthony Reeves. So let's get started, all right. Our first question has to ask about individuals asking me they've been receiving disability insurance benefits for the last two years now they've requested back child support for their child and wondering how the benefits will be effective. Okay, here's what you need to understand. If you're receiving disability insurance benefits and you're requesting PAL support on the half of your child, it shouldn't have any impact on what so whatsoever. The only time you're going to probably have an issue is that if you have supplemental security income, because then they're

1:09 going to want to know how much money are you drawing per month for child support for that child. So if you're just receiving disability insurance benefits the IB where you pay into the system, you shouldn't have a problem whatsoever. If you have that the thide coming in what I would do is once you determine how much you're going to be receiving per month, I would encourage you to contact Social Security right away so that if they need to do a modified resource interview. They can make a determination of how that child support will have an impact on your SSI benefits. All right, The second question was asked of me, was are there any tips on how a judge will more likely approve you. First of all,

1:55 let me say this one statement. I want you to listen carefully. There is no such thing as a judge, meaning you can't put every judge in the same category. In the grander scheme of things, every judge follows the laws that are set forth under Social Security regulations. But if you're asking what can you do to give yourself a stronger chance before the court, here's what I would recommend.

2:18 First of all, make sure your file is complete, meaning if there's any outstanding medical records out there, the court needs all the medical records regarding your case in order to make an informed decision. If there's any issues in your case, you need to address them ahead of time. If you're smoking, stop smoking. If you're drinking alcohol or using drugs, stop smoking and using drugs. If your doctor's telling you you need to try to lose weight, try to lose weight. If the doctor's telling you need to exercise or eat better, excise and eat better. If the doctor's telling you to take the medication, take the medication, do these things. What messes up a lot of people is that they don't realize how all these little things

2:54 that they do can potentially hurt their case. Also, also, the judge going to be looking at whether collectively all of your medical evidence is can support whether or not you're disabled. Unless you are fluent in being able to read all of your medical records. In terms of getting an understanding of what the standard are is, you might want to think about getting a representative to help you.

3:17 The reality is that the process was designed so people can do it on their own. But if you don't really know whether there's a problem area in your case, it's kind of hard for me to tell you what to do. What's more likely because if there's some issues that are popping up in your case, like let's say there's earnings on your record whether you work, but then the work was done on a sheltered capacity, meaning you're working for your cousin and they were just paying you on the books, but you weren't really doing anything. If you don't know what those circumstances are so you can explain to the court, you'll be going in there blind.

3:49 So this is what I tell people all the time. If you want to know what to do to strengthen your courts, you strengthen your case. Go to your doctors, do what they say. And if you are not sure whether your case is one that may have some problems, area get a representative. Don't mess around and try to figure it out on your own, because if you miss, if you go in there and you're not quite sure.

4:12 And of course I'm a slightly biath because I am a representative. I just know that a lot of times people are they trying to guess what it is that there's a problem. And here's the other thing that you need to be aware of. The Social Security Administration has recently issued a decision where they no longer are going to let you know who the judge is before you go in there under most circumstances. Representatives, because we go before judges, we have an idea of knowing what they like and what they don't like, what their preferences are, what they're dislike. The reality is, if you don't know the judge is, you have to prepare for every case as if the case is going before the toughest judge.

4:51 If you don't know how to prepare for one like that, or if you don't know if there's words in your case, or if you don't know if the if the file is complete, if you don't know what you need, you might be going in there blind. So that's a long winded response to answer your question. Are there things you can do to strengthen your case? Absolutely, get medical treatment, stop those bad habits, do what the doctors tell you, and keep those security informed. There was always help, But I'm always a big proponent that if you're not totally sure, if you've got problems with your case, contact representatives. All right, question number three? All right, I'm going to try to talk about it slow, and I'm not trying to be disrespectful,

5:35 but this comes up every blue move. Public assistance, SSI and SSDI. Here's how it works. Let's say, for instance, that you've applied for those security disability benefits and you worked and paid into the system, so you've got that program going. You also applied for SSI. Well, while your claim is pending, you also applied for public assistance as well, and in some counties, in some states, whatever the case may be you signed some documentation indicating that, hey, if I win my Social Security case, then my SSIDE benefits will go to take care of any outstanding balances that I owe public assistance, whether it be for housing, whether it be for food, whether it be for electricity, whatever the case may be, or even health insurance things of

6:16 that nature. So then you win your case, and so what happens is they calculate your benefits first based on your resource interview for SSI first, then they transfer to a payment center to take care of your disability insurance benefits that you paid into. So we get all that out of the way, let's get them hard numbers. What say, for instance, that the toll amount of back pay that's for SSI and SSD is ten thousand dollars total amount.

6:41 It's okay, well, let's say that out of that ten thousand dollars that SSI pays you five thousand dollars first to say that that happens. So then because you're making more in disability insurance benefits that the IB is going to actually kick in. Now here's where it gets weird. If you already been paid from one program, you don't get a double dip. Meaning let's say, for instance, that your dB by itself could pay you ten thousand dollars, but the ss I only could pay you five. So says I pays you five. How much do you get?

7:14 That's right, five thousand, not ten, So don't get in your mind. I'll wait a minute. So you're telling me that a d IB pays me ten thousand, but AI only pays me five. I don't get fifteen. No, if your total back pay is ten, taking consideration, both programs and the dB by itself could take care of all of your back pay. Sometimes what happens is the SSI will get paid first. So what they do is the dB will say, well, we're gonna take in consideration the fact that you receive a portion of your SSI and that and therefore we're gonna pay for the offset. So that means if you've got if you're entitled to ten, you've already received five, we will pay the other five.

7:52 So what happens in the situation where that whole five thousands from that SSI goes straight to public assistance? What you get five thousand? Well, what are you saying? Well? Because the question that was posed to me was really, well, do I get reimbursed by VIB for the fact that the SSI was paid to public assistance? No, you don't.

8:12 So what ends up happening is you get ten thousand, SSI calculates that five thousand, they take that five thousand, they give it to public assistance, and then that balance of five thousand that you have left coming from the IB. That's all you get, plain and simple. And the reason it's set up like this is because the government's philosophy is listen, we're taking care of you while you're waiting for the process to go through, and you don't get the ability to double dep So you got approved, You're happy public assistance get their money. They're happy you have the benefit of receiving public assistance while you were waiting for this thing, so you got to benefit there, so you don't get a double dep In other words, Social

8:53 Security program will not reimburse you for the money that had to be paid out for your public assistance. You know that was confusing. If you need me to do a special video just on this, I'd be more happy to just keep in mind that if a public assistance program you're on, has you signed up so that you must reimburse them for any SCIE money that you receive.

9:13 It is very possible that your portion of that money is going to go directly to them and you don't get that money back. So keep that in the back of your mind. All right. The federal process. Someone asked me about the federal court process. Hadn't had this question asked, So let me take the opportunity to explain. So, you've applied for disability benefits, You've gone all through the Social Security Administration. You've gotten denied once or twice, depending on what state you're in. You've gone before judge, got denied, you appeal to the appeals counseled, and you got denied.

9:51 That's what we as representatives called exhausting the administrative process. That means you've gone you've exhausted every abvenue through the or the agency in order to get your benefits. So what do you have next? You sue the organization, You sue the commission or Social Security, and you do that in federal court, depending on what jurisdiction you're in. So typically what happens is you're going to file a complaint in civil court. Some people do it on their own.

10:17 A lot of times always encourage people because of all the funky nuances that you have to do, it's usually good to get an attorney who's licensed in that jurisdiction. They file a complaint, file the filing fees. If you're endingent, you can sometimes get what's called informer papars. That's a nice way of saying, Hey, I have an affidavit of agency, I don't have any money and I can't afford to pay the filing fee. File it. The penis are filed with the various agencies. The agency files an answer, and then they provide a copy of the transcript to the body to write an argument about why the court below got it wrong. When you're in the federal court system, you're not there to say I'm disabled. I'm not disabled.

10:54 What you're basically doing is you're trying to show the United States District Court that there was an error made in the law, meaning that the Social Security Administration applied the law incorrectly. So you make your arguments, and then what happens is that the representatives for the Commissioner makes theirs.

11:11 Depending on what judge you get, whether it be a magistrate judge which you've agreed to or a United States district court judge. They will rule in your favor or against you, depending on whose side they believe it. Now, after that, what happens if you decide that you want to appeal further. The next level is to file to the Circuit Court of Appeals. Now that particular court that's the standard is much tougher. I always tell people that a lot of representatives who do federal court work will tell you that they take eight Most courts are conservatives, so they are really tough on taking cases to the federal courts that they take only they believe it's just a pretty decent chance they can win. But if you

11:49 get denied the district court level, the level of scrutiny is even tougher. In other words, the court is looking at the case even tighter, because now what you're arguing is that the district court got it wrong and that they should have ruled in your favor. Same things, almost the same process, except a few other little nuances that you have to do, and if you prevail there, it gets sent back. If you don't prevail. Here's where most people don't understand. There are I believe twelve courts of appeals and eleven circuits, and then I think a district court of appeals. You only have a right to appeal to the Court of Appeals because sometimes you have people say and I'm gonna fight my case, sell us, I'll

12:27 bring you in court, and I tell them, let me tell you how it works. You only have a right to appeal to the district court and to the United States courts of appeals. The Supreme Court is discretionary. What does that mean, Well, they can choose whether to take your case. So unless it is to deal with a great public interest, or there's conflicts amongst the various courts, like let's say the eleventh Circuit ruled your facts in one way, but the ninth and the eighth and the fifth ruled completely opposite. So there's a conflict. We want the court to resolve that conflict unless you have one of those two scenarios. You have to remember there is a load of cases that come through the Supreme Court all the time. It's we call filing a retisseurceiary. You're

13:08 basically saying, hey, I think this is the case that you need to hear. You wonder how many comes through. Just think of it like this and I may be exaggerating. They probably get over probably I want to say a million, but I'm gonna say about a hundred thousand cases come through their docket every year where people say we think this case should be heard by the Supreme Court. They probably take out of that hundred thousand, maybe two thousand, and I'm giving a rough estimation. The reason why I say that is you got to remember they take appeals from every court. That means they take them whenever there's an issue from the state court indefense, they take them from all the courts of appeals. Remember there's only one

13:46 United States Supreme Court, so they can't take everything. So they are very, very tough on the cases that they take. So I always tell people, if you get it to these certain court of appeals, just because you lose does not give you an audit right. So I hope that answers your question with regards to the federal court process.

14:06 I strongly encourage you that if you're in a position where you're thinking about suing the Social Security Administration, you might want to contact an attorney that is licensed in that circuit to kind of give you an idea of whether they can represent you and help you take the case into the court because federal court work on your own pro se. It's possible, but it's tough if you don't know all the ins and outs. I want to think again, thank you for taking the opportunity to joining me for another edition of Q and A Social Security Disability Today. As always, keep those questions coming. I enjoy each and every one of them. And as always, let me remind you if there's a topic that I've addressed already,

14:51 but you'd like me to do a very special video, meaning just a video on that topic, make sure that if you send me a message or a comment in big bowl capital letters special video, would you please do a special video on this topic and I'll make sure I address it accordingly. Have a wonderful day, everyone, have a wonderful weekend. And this again is Q and a Soil Today.