Social Security Disability and Age: It Does Matter

We seem to live in a culture obsessed by age, and the Social Security disability rules seem to reflect that. Etiquette and good manners tell us that it is rude to ask a woman how old they are. But I have to be “rude” every day when I talk to folks in my law practice by asking them how old they are because age matters in a social security disability claim.

More specifically, being over the age of 50 matters to the Social Security Administration in considering whether you could perform work other than the work you used to do. SSA recognizes that as we age it gets harder to learn to do something new - it is indeed hard to teach an old dog new tricks!

Here are some examples of how this works:

· If a social security disability claimant is over 50 years of age, unable to do your old unskilled work, and cannot stand and walk for most of the workday, SSA will presume that you are unable to transition to other work due to your age. This can make a huge difference in a claim. A person so limited may lose his disability case at age 48, but will win it at age 50.

· If this same person is over 55 years of age, you can win your disability case even if you can stand and walk for most of the day and do so-called “light duty” work.

If you live in Dallas Fort Worth, North and East Texas, visit my website at www.disabilityapproved.com for a free case evaluation.