YOU'VE NEVER HEARD OF IT, BUT YOUR DISABILITY CLAIM DEPENDS ON IT.

You have filed for Social Security disability. You've done your best to complete the complicated flood of forms,honestly and carefully, even though you didn't understand some of them. What you need to know now is that approval of your disability claim depends almost entirely on something you never heard of: It's called a Residual Functional Capacity or RFC.

Social Security must use your medical records and other evidence tofor4m an RFC before they can make a decision on your claim. Your RFC will determine what type of jobs, if any, you can still perform--even with your impairments. Your medical records, provided by your doctors, is major piece of the puzzle. Your records may indicate how much you can sit, stand, walk, kneel, crouch, crawl, lift and carry, or how whether you can maintain concentration and persistence over an 8-hour day.

In addition to medical records, Social Security will consider your current level of functioning. How do they get this information? You tell them. They have sent you a form called "Function Report--Adult. You have filled it out and sent it back to Social Security. The form asked you about your routine daily activities: attending church, sports events or other activities; spending time with family and friends; driving; preparing meals; mowing your grass; hobbies; housework; paying your bills.....on and on. The purpose of this form is to tell Social Security how active you are, or how restricted you are, in normal daily functioning.

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Unfortunately, many claimants don't complete this form correctly. There are very common sand traps in the Function Report. One example: "How much can you lift?" You may respond: 25 pounds. It doesn't sound like much. But, assuming you can sit for about 6 hours out of an 8 hour day and stand for 4 to 6 hours per 8-hour day, the ability to lift and carry 25 pounds makes you able to perform work at the LIGHT exertion level. According to one estimate, there are at least 2 million Light jobs in the United States. For claimants under age 50, the ability to perform Light work calls for a finding of "NOT DISABLED" by Social Security.

Suppose we asked the question about lifting differently. Suppose we asked you, "If you had a full-time job that required you to life and carry up to 25 pounds every day on a repeated basis, could you perform that job on a regular and continuing basis?" You answer, "Oh, no, I couldn't handle that much lifting! So,. be careful about estimating how much you can lift. It's not a one-time amount. It's during an 8-hour workday on at least an occasional basis. " Occasional" means from very little up to one-third of the time, according to Social Security regulations.

That one example (and there are dozens of others) may make the best argument for seeking an attorney or advocate to help you apply for Social Security benefits. They know the nuances of definitions, terms, and regulations used by Social Security, and how they will be interpreted. It is important to UNDERSTAND a question before you ANSWER the question.

A question often means one thing to the untrained, casual observer--and quite a different thing to a disability attorney who is trained in Social Security regulations. The difference can decide between approval and denial.

One final remark about your Residual Functional Capacity: Your treating physician can complete a form called "Medical Source Statement" (MSS) that will help Social Security determine your RFC. Ask your attorney-representative for a blank form, take it to your doctor, and give it to your attorney-representative when it's complete. You do not want Social Security finding that you are able to perform Medium exertion work, when you should be limited to Sedentary level.

Worse, most claimants under the age of 50 need to be restricted to less than Sedentary exertion level in order to qualify for benefits. This is a difficult burden and it will take all the skill, training and insight your attorney can muster to get this done.

If you don't have a good understanding of Residual Functional Capacity, hire an attorney who does! Otherwise, that invisible monster known as "RFC" will haunt your claim and defeat it.