Social Security Disability Advice Group

I am new here, and sorry if this has been talked about before...

I applied for SSDI early Feb. and my lawyer emailed me that SS had called them and I had been accepted. She had no other details other than I needed to call and set up an appt. to add my kids. Today I called..and didnt have thier SS numbers, so she set up a phone appt. tommorow to add them. I also got a letter from SS basically stating..I needed to set an appt to add kids before they could make a decision. ? Since I know I got accepted I didnt let this confuse me, but did anyone else get a letter like this first? WOndering when actual acceptance letter will come or do theey need to make calculations on what I am gettting after interviewing me, then send out letter and monies? Also, I am trying to figure out if I qualify for both ssdi and ssi. What defines ssi elebility? AMount your SSDI will be each month? I cant seem to find an answer anywhere.

I should mention that I am a 45 year old mother of 2 suffering from sever panic attacks and general anxiety disorder. I also have midback disc problems and nerve damage in one arm. Thanks to any who answer me.

Poppymac

If your SSDI is a really low amount, you may qualify for SSI provided you meet the income and assets restrictions. You really need to get something in writing. SS probably sent your lawyer something in writing if she notified you.

It is really up to your lawyer to tell you exactly what is going on and answer your questions. That is what you are paying him for.

Your dependent kids also qualify for SSDI benefits. The kids will get 1/2 of your PIA, If your SSDI is $800 per month for example, your kids are entitled to $400 to be divided equally among the kids so if you have 2 kids, each would get $200. If one kids ages out while you are still on SSDI and the other one is under age 18 or 19 while still in school and unmarried, they would then get the entire $400 in the example I gave. When my lawyer told me I had been approved, it took the SSA a little over a week to mail me my approval letter. The award letter which usually comes after the approval letter is what you really want. It will detail your benefits so you will know exactly what you will be receiving. It took the SSA about 2 months to send out my award letter after I received the approval letter. You won't know exactly how much you are receiving until SS calculates it. There are SSDI estimate calculators online that you can use to maybe get a ballpark but you just need to be patient most of all. If you find trying to call them frustrating, you may wanna run down to your local SSA office to get more personalized help. Be sure to have all your and your kids credentials if you go down to your local office. (birth certificates, SS cards, etc)

Congrats. on the approval. It sounds like you won at the application level. I was denied at the 1st two levels and it took me 2 years to get approved. Congrats on your win!

Post edited by: LostInCyberspace12, at: 06/27/2012 04:43 PM

Thanks for that..I am not thrilled with the lawyer I got. I felt like I was a bother to call her.

Just an update..I spoke to a lovely woman at SS and got my kids all signed up. She was great and told me my acceptance letter would be on way with all info, but still gave me my monthly amounts, my backpay total and was really helpful. Only thing that confused me is my kids are not getting half of what I am getting. The two of them together are getting about 1/3 of my monthly pay, not a half. I wonder if she got numbers wrong.

I feel almost uncomfortable and thrilled at same time, that I was accepted at application level. There are so many that really should be accepted right away and I think this system is not very uniform. I am thankful though..I am not sure I could of held on much longer without money.

That is great you got your kids all signed up poppymac. Once you start receiving monthly payments, it is pretty much smooth sailing after that. The payments will come on time like clockwork. Are you having the funds direct deposited into a bank account, or are you using one of those direct express cards? Did the SS lady tell you... you were getting SSDI only and not SSI because if it is SSDI only, the kids should get 1/2 of your monthly amount and not 1/3 so I would definitely look into that. I do know there are no dependent benefits paid for SSI, only SSDI so if you are getting both, that may be the reason for the 1/3 but I am just guessing. I do not know that much about SSI, only SSDI which I am on myself. Congrats again on the win at the application level. You are right when you said the system is not very uniform and decisions can sometimes be very unpredictable.