You may have to jump through several hoops before being granted Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits by the Social Security Administration (SSA). One of these challenges may be solidifying your disability onset date. Continue reading to learn how your disability onset date may impact your benefits and how an experienced New Jersey SSDI attorney at The Law Offices of Sheryl Gandel Mazur can help you establish this.
How does my disability onset date impact when I get my SSDI benefits?
First of all, the SSA will establish your disability onset date as early as SSDI benefits program rules and other submitted evidence allows. With that being said, your disability onset date may impact when and how you get your SSDI benefits in the following ways:
- This established date may affect your monthly SSDI benefits amount.
- This established date may affect the period in which you are qualified for SSDI benefits.
- This established date may affect whether you are entitled to future or subsequent SSDI benefits.
- This established date may affect how the SSA rules your subsequent claims for SSDI benefits.
How do I determine this date?
It may be easy to determine your disability onset date if it originated from a traumatic event. For example, say that your disability arose from your involvement in a car accident. Then, you may claim to the SSA that your onset date was the exact date of your car accident.
Though, things become more complicated when your disability was not brought on by a traumatic event. In a case like this, you may have to provide the following pieces of information to the SSA:
- The date on which you believe your disability began, and why you believe it to be that date.
- Your work history, and how your stopping of work portrays your incurring of your disability.
- Your medical history, and how your records portray your incurring of your disability.
What makes this date all the more difficult to prove is if your disability pertains to a mental impairment. It is similarly possible to establish this by providing information regarding your work history and your medical history. But it may also be helpful to provide the SSA with these additional pieces of information:
- Doctor’s notes that state how your mental impairment was incurred before the date of your hospitalization, diagnosis, treatment plan, etc.
- Statements by loved ones that show how your mental impairment was noticeable before the date of your hospitalization, diagnosis, treatment plan, etc.
With this information, the SSA will have the final say on your exact onset date. If you are ready and willing to kickstart your benefits application process, employ a skilled New Jersey SSDI attorney today. We look forward to working alongside you.
