Penar Law

Hello Donna, We may be able to help. Please contact our office at 509-922-2345 and we will schedule an intake with you over the phone. The intake specialist will collect information about your case, such as how your impairments affect your ability to maintain work, the names of doctors you see for treatment, and the medications you take. The intake is then reviewed by an attorney to decide if we will represent you. If we decided not to take your case, we will tell you the reasons why we declined it and what you need to do to have us take a second look at your case in the future. Cases of chronic diarrhea can absolutely qualify for disability benefits. It all comes down to the medical treatment you receive, and how limited your ability to work is even after receiving that treatment.

We would like to try to help your wife. But, we need more information about her situation. Please call the office at 509-922-2345 to set up a time to do an intake. An intake is a simple set of questions we ask to discover what is going on with your wife's situation. It is free, and if we do not get involved in her case right away we will tell her why we declined to get involved and what she needs to do moving forward.

Hi Judy, This is not the type of case that we typically get involved in. Our practice is limited to helping people prove their medical impairments are disabling under Social Security's rules. Since your sister has already been found disabled by Social Security, this is not something we would represent her on. I also do not have enough information to know what is going on in her case. I can give you general information that may be helpful. The SSI program is a social safety net for people who don't qualify for Disability Insurance Benefits (a program based on what you paid into Social Security while working). To qualify, one must be financially needy. If one has more than $2,000 in assets, they may not qualify for SSI. (Limits vary if married or if there are dependents, and SSA doesn't count some assets, such as 1 home.) If your sister came into money, she must spend it down according to SSA rules. Just giving it away does not work, she must spend it on herself to cover her needs.

I understand that it's disappointing to hear that we will not take your case at this time. But, when we tell a person that we aren't taking their claim, we also tell them why, and we tell them what they need to do to have us represent them in the future. It is hard to qualify for Social Security Disability benefits. It takes a lot of work to win most cases, and our office only charges a fee if we win the case. So, we only take a case if we think we have a reasonable chance of wining. Having a seizure disorder is not enough to qualify for benefits. You need to prove that you are having seizures on a monthly basis even when taking prescribed seizure medication. It's also important to know that when a person is under age 50, they don't qualify for benefits just because they can't do their past work. Under 50, you need to show you cannot maintain any work on a full-time basis. You show that through medical evidence. See doctors, try to get better, and call us if you still can't work.

To qualify for Social Security Disability Benefits or Supplemental Security Income, a person needs to be disabled and unable to work for a period of at least twelve (12) months. It is possible that your friend was denied because Social Security thought they would be able to recover medically and return to work in less than twelve months. Please have your friend contact our office and go through an intake so that we can see if we can help.

Social Security Disability is all we do.

I'm sorry. But, I don't have enough information to answer your question. We only help people to prove that they are disabled and unable to work according to Social Security's rules. If you have already been approved for disability benefits, we would not represent you. There may be a valid reason why you will not get back benefits. You should talk with your current attorney and ask them to explain the decision. When a person is already represented by another attorney, we encourage them to try to repair the relationship and stay with their representative, if possible. A lot of complaints we hear are about the amount of time the claimant has to wait before being approved. The wait times are long, and it can take a year or more to be approved for benefits. We cannot speed up this process, no representative can. (However, factors in the claimant's life may speed the process, such as having a house in foreclosure, being homeless in a shelter, or being found 100% disabled by the VA.)