Don’t Despair
When people try to file for Social Security benefits on their own, the track record is typically not that good. It’s important to remember that the Social Security administration puts many barriers to getting benefits in your way. These barriers are there because they don’t want you to get your benefits. They simply need to make certain that a person who gets benefit payments meets the criteria for those benefits. There’s only so much money to go around and the people who really need it are the ones that the Social Security Administration wants to help.
When you’re in a situation where you have lost a loved one, potentially lost half of the income coming into the house and are facing all of the expenses related to that, it can be easy to despair. Remember, however, that people’s track records of getting Social Security benefits when they hire a lawyer to represent them are usually much better than they are when they try to do it themselves. Your situation is probably new to you. It will not be new to a lawyer. They understand how the system works, understand how to get the system moving and understand what they have to do to appeal your claim if it is denied.
Move Fast
If you are granted Social Security benefits, you’ll usually be paid back benefits going back to the time when you became eligible if you are denied at first. Your attorney will help you to understand all of this and let you know whether or not it applies to you. The most important thing you need to do, however, is get help right away. There is absolutely no good that is going to come of trying to navigate a bureaucracy that is simply frustrating you because you don’t know the criteria for getting the benefits to which you and your family are entitled. Have an attorney handle it for you so that you can get your life back in order.