The Judge Said I Lied” — Understanding Credibility in Disability Hearings (Originally 6/17/2023)

0:20 Global Biz seventy three asked a good question about what happens to your benefits if you move from one state to another. Great question. Nothing, now you're seeing that's it. No, actually think about it. You're in the United States. It's a federal program. So as long as you're toll soal Security where you're going in terms of your banking information and everything like that, if that doesn't change, you should be fine. Now keep this in mind here. This is for one little crinkle. If you're getting supplemental Security income, it's a need based program. Even if you move to a different state, you need to make sure to let Social Security know if your circumstances have changed, Meaning if you're moving from one scenario to the exact same scenario,

1:01 you still need to let them know so they can make a determination of whether or not your benefits need to be adjusted. However, if the scenario has changed, meaning let's say you move in from your staying at a homeless shelter in Texas, but then you're moving in with your rich aunt and uncle and Maryland, who are basically going to give you a stipend of one thousand bucks a month and let you stay in their cottage or their property for free. Guess what society needs to know that because they may need to adjust your benefits. Why because your need is not the same. So in the grander scheme of things, if you're relocating from one state to another, should have no impact to federal program. But from a practical standpoint, if it's for sci and I'm

1:41 only talking about society, you still need to let them know so security to know so that if there's an adjustment that needs to be made to your benefits based on your change of circumstances. They give youse, the ollow wife great question. She asked me about why did the judge say I lie in her decision? And Yellow Wife's comment was, basically, I went to a hearing, I told the truth. Judge said I lied. I didn't lie. I just didn't remember. I just don't remember stuff very well and that might be a condition of your impairment. And let me rephrase, because she didn't say that the judge says she lied in her she said judge basically says she lied. And what that typically tells me is that in the judge's decision, the judge probably made a question

2:26 about her creditibility. And this is what I tell people when you see the judge says that there's a question about your creditibility. They're not saying that you're lying. What they're saying is that, based on the evidence that's in the record and what you're testifying about, there's a reason to question some of the things you're saying. Now, I know what you're saying. Potato, Potato, you just said I was a lie. I'm like, no, not really, Here's what I'm saying. Okay, here's what I was saying. Let me give you a good example. Let's say, for instance, you say, all my is so hurt so bad. It hurts so bad that I could barely get out of the bed in the morning. I could do I can hardly do anything.

3:06 I basically spent all day at home. But yet when you filled out your forms, you indicated that on a monthly basis, you go to the grocery store getting groceries for your family, that you walk your children to the bus stop every day so that they can catch the bus, and you go walk to the bus stop every day to come and get them when they come home. Guess what your credibility is shaky? Why? Because you just testified on the one hand that you can't do hardly anything.

3:30 But then in your forms when you filled it out, you just testify. You just indicated that you do do stuff, or even further, in your medical records to your doctor, you tell your doctor about how all you know, you just came back from going with your children on a road trip to the zoo and that your back was killing you, but it was tough, but you were able to make it through. Again, in a hearing, you told the judge that you can't do anything, but in notes to a doctor you told the doctor, oh, my gosh, I had went to the zoo. So then the judge is going to start looking at you and saying, well, wait a minute. I got a form that says here that you go to the grocery store and you go to the bus stop for your kids. I got notes

4:04 in here from the doctor's office and says you went to the zoo and you made it through. But then you're sitting here telling me that you're so off the chain that you can't do anything. Hmm. I ain't saying that you're lying. I'm just saying that I'm not totally totally totally confident that the way you're breaking it down is the complete and accurate truth. Now you can call it alive if you want to. That's not what the judge's saying. But the judge's saying is that when looking at everything as a whole, the way you're breaking it down may not be as truthful as the way you're mix sing. And I know you're saying that's a lie.

4:34 I'm like, yeah, but reality, that's what we call it, a credibility determination. So they're not outright saying your line, because you're right, there may be certain days when you can't do anything, but to say that you can't do anything every day may not be the complete truth. And I know it gets tougher, especially when I have persons who have memory issues and so forth. Sometimes you're looking at the file and sometimes I have situations where I have clients who get upset because they remember things well on certain days but not on another. Trust me, as long as you're going in there and telling the truth, and if you don't, you're fine. If you don't remember, you don't remember, because here's the problem that most people

5:10 forget when you're get in front of the judge. The judge has about a good year to two years worth of documents that relate to things that you've said or done, and I don't know. Look here, I can barely remember what I told my mama last week or my wife a couple of months ago. And then all of a sudden, somebody has a form in front of them saying you told your wife on this day, and you're like, really, I did. Okay, So don't beat yourself up if you don't remember everything verbatim, be truthful, do the best you can.

5:37 And if you don't remember, you don't. You just don't remember.