Mike Murburg
If you’re looking to secure Social Security disability benefits, or have already secured such benefits, then you may be concerned about whether — and under what circumstances — the Social Security Administration (SSA) is entitled to terminate those benefits. There are a number of factors that can influence the early termination of one’s disability benefits. Consider the following.
Not every disability will lead to a full recovery where you have returned to the same level of health that you had prior to the disability. In such cases, your treating physician may be able to let you know the date of your maximum medical improvement, at which point no further recovery or lasting improvement can be reasonably anticipated (based on medical probabilities known to the physician). If your maximum medical improvement is sufficient to allow you to return to substantial gainful activity/employment, then the SSA may terminate benefits at that time.
Though the SSA will evaluate your status on an annual basis, you’ll have to actively notify the SSA of any material changes to your disability status when it is reasonably clear that such changes have taken place. Further, you should not attempt to hide or otherwise mischaracterize your status at any time. Failure to do so could lead to the loss of benefits and even potential criminal liability for fraud.
It’s important that you seek adequate medical treatment and follow-through on all care recommendations so that you can (to the degree possible) recover from your disability. Failure to do so could lead to the loss of Social Security disability benefits.
If you are capable of returning to work (i.e., substantial gainful activity), it’s important that you do so. In some cases, however, you may be able to “try out” working for a trial period and find that you are incapable of doing the work that you anticipated, due to your disability. If you return to work and have to quit due to your disability, then that will not necessarily count against you for the purpose of disability benefits. In fact, it may be used as additional evidence that your disability has not yet resolved to the extent that you can return to work.
If you are receiving Supplementary Security Income (SSI), then those benefits may be impacted by the inheritance of assets, or the receipt of substantial other assets, as qualification for SSI benefits is dependent on your income being below a certain level. On the other hand, Social Security disability benefits are unaffected by the receipt of unearned income, such as a gift or inherited assets.
Dedicated to the zealous representation of his clients, Mike Marburg handles both Social Security Disability and SSI cases.
