Can I Hire a Social Security Lawyer to Help Me Fill Out All of These Forms?
Anyone who has ever applied for Social Security benefits knows that the Social Security Administration (SSA) sends out a ton of questionnaires to be filled out and reviewed by the adjudicator reviewing your claim. This creates a lot of stress on those who are already suffering medically and are unable to get through the day without pain or mental anguish.
Many of my clients ask if I can fill out these forms for them, such as the Supplemental Pain Questionnaire or the Adult Function Report. Unfortunately, I am not able to fill these forms out for my clients. The reason behind my position is that these forms are sent from SSA to help them better understand what a typical day is like for you, in your own words. They don’t want to see my words or my input – in fact, my input can be detrimental because it may make it look as though you are more capable at functioning than you truly are.
I encourage my clients to begin working on these forms the day they receive them in the mail and then submit them before the deadline (usually 10 days) expires. This way, they have several days to work on these forms and are less likely to feel rushed. I also encourage them to fill them out using brief, but descriptive, and honest answers. I also advise them to write from the perspective of a bad day – we are all entitled to a good day every now and then, but if you are applying for disability, it is more likely than not that you have more bad days than good. Let SSA know that and know how you function on those bad days.
Many times, clients want to write paragraphs to SSA to get them to understand better what a day is like. However, that is not the best option for several reasons, including the fact that by writing long paragraphs about your health and your daily habits can make you look more capable – even if those forms took you five days to fill out in their entirety.
If you would like to speak with an experienced Social Security attorney about your claim, contact us today at (904) 777-7777 or email us using our contact form.
