SSA Tip of the day.Be honest and be credible

0:02 All right, everyone, this is attorney Anthony Reeves and this is your Social Security Disability tip of the day. Today's tip is be credible, be honest, and be aware of what's in your medical records. You finally waited. Here comes a date that you've been looking for. You're gonna go before an administrative law judge. You can't wait the judge that's your medical records. They've asked, they set a date. You're gonna go in front of the court and let them know what's going on. However, there's a few things in your record that you know that may not be helpful to your claim. You know, you smoke a little bit more cigarettes than you probably should have.

0:37 You know, you drank a little bit more alcohol than you have. Maybe you use drugs a little bit more often than you should have. So you decideed kind of to fudge that information. However, the whole time you're fudging, all that information is right there in front of the court, in the judge's medical records. So then what do I tell people? Why are you gonna sit there and lie and let me tell you what's gonna happen? When you start trying to minimize the fact that in the records, it says that you've been telling them that you've been drinking a beer three or four times a day every day, but then you tell the judge once a week. What it does is that kills your credibility because then the judge looks at to everything

1:11 else you say with suspect and you don't want that to happen because you've waited too long to get to this point. So trust me when I tell you, when you finally have your chance before the administrative law judge, you want to be honest because the more upfront you are, the more credible that you are. And be incredible means they can give deference to not only what you say about the bad things, but also about the good things as well, because if you're not afraid to admit to the bad things, then they know you're being honest about the good things, and then of course be aware.

1:42 The reality is is that most people are not familiar with looking at medical records, so they don't know how to look for toxicology screens or medical notes. That tells you that there's some damning information in your file. So trust me when I tell you this. You want to be honest, be credible and be aware wherever your medical records, because at the end you waited way too long to blow your chance over trying to sugarcoat a bad thing. This is Attorney Anthony Reeves and that is your solcial Security Disability tip of the Day.