Social Security in the United States is run by the federal government; this program has been in existence since 1935 and has help countless millions by providing financial support to those who have contributed to it over the years through payroll taxes. The two basic benefits of Social Security are to retirees and to those who suffer from a physical or mental disability. A dispute over retirement benefits would be rare as they are simple to compute and approve, the same cannot be said for those that are applying for disability benefits. Applying for retirement benefits is straight forward, applying for disability benefits is difficult and the chances of initial success are low. Because of the degree of difficulty many people turn to a Social Security lawyer in Pensacola to help them improve their chances of being approved.
A disabled person can apply for either Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI). For applicants that have yet to reach retirement age and can show they meet all the criteria established by the administration for their specific disability, have sufficient work credits and can show they can no longer perform any gainful activity to allow the applicant to support himself or his family, they can usually apply for SSDI. There are strict rules that the applicant must abide by and they must meet certain medical and non-medical requirements. For those who do not meet the demands for SSDI they can apply for SSI.
Social Security law, like all law, is complex. Very few applicants who do not have legal training would understand how to deal with all the complexities; this is precisely why they turn to a Social Security lawyer in Pensacola who does know the law in all its detail. Even when an applicant is being guided by a Social Security lawyer there is a very good chance that the application for benefits will be denied. This is of no concern; it is during the appeals process that having a lawyer pays handsome dividends. Statistically, those applicants who were denied the first time around are more likely to win on the first appeal about two thirds of the time. Those applicants who appeal their own cases independently win far less.
Getting disability benefits can be very important to the disabled person; the money may be the only source of income they have. When a person does have a Social Security lawyer on their side there is a far better chance of this happening.
