DO YOU HAVE ENOUGH WORK CREDITS FOR SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY?

To be covered by Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) an individual must have worked and accumulated the minimum number of work credits.

What is a "work credit"? In 2024, you earn 1 work credit for each $1,730 earned in a quarter. To get the maximum of 4 work credits per year, you must earn $6,920 per year.

The specific number of work credits required to qualify for SSDI benefits varies based on your age. For instance:

• Individuals under the age of 24 typically need six credits earned in the three years leading up to their disability.

• Those aged 24 to 31 generally need credits for half the time between age 21 and the onset of disability.

• Individuals aged 31 or older usually need at least 20 credits earned in the 10 years preceding their disability.

Work credits "expire" after an individual stops working. Just because a person worked for many years--but stopped working several years ago--does not mean that they now have the necessary work credits to support an SSDI claim.

WHAT IF YOU HAVE ENOUGH WORK CREDITS, WHAT THEN?

Once you determine that you have sufficient work credits for a claim, you must prove that your impairment (medical condition) meets Social Security's rules to get a benefit.

1. The impairment(s) must be severe and must substantially prevent the ability to work a full-time job, or a job that earns at least $1,550 per month (the 2024 limit).

2. The impairment must

   1. have lasted at least 12 straight months, or

   2. be expected to last for at least 12 straight months, or

   3. to end in death (be terminal)

Social Security provides no short-term benefit and no benefit for partial disability. A claimant is either disabled or not. And every claimant must meet the 12 month rule as mentioned above. Also, SSDI exclude payment for the first 5 full months of disability, the "waiting period."

The application process is usually long and difficult. In Alabama the average waiting time to get an initial decision is 222 days, or about seven and one-half months. About 8 out of 10 applications will be denied, required a series of appeals. If a claim works it way up to an administrative law judge, it has a better chance of approval at that level.

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For assistance with a denied SSDI claim, contact the office of Charles W. Forsythe, the Forsythe Firm, in Huntsville, AL. Free consultations and you never pay a fee unless you win. Call for a free consultation. (256) 799-0297 or (256) 503-8151.