If you’ve recently become too disabled to work, seeking benefits can be a complex process. First, you need to determine whether you are applying for worker’s compensation or Social Security Disability. In some cases, the answer might even be both, or more likely, first one and then after health developments, the other. Worker’s compensation is designed for when you’ve been hurt on the job, and its primary purpose is to get you back on your feet without economic hardship. Social Security, on the other hand, is for long-term permanent disability in excess of a year. A Social Security Disability attorney in Ocala can help you understand more of the differences between the kinds of benefits.

Preparing to File for Social Security

If you need long term disability benefits because of the diagnosis of a disabling condition that prevents you from working, you need to file for Social Security disability benefits. The process can be drawn out because you need to pull together a variety of pieces of information to demonstrate your level of disability. All of these records are typically included in an application.

• Medical records
• Second opinions
• Documentation of activities of daily living
• Documentation the disability impacts the ability to work
• Professional prognoses indicating continued impairment
• Documentation of diagnosis and health changes since then

If you have already applied for benefits and been denied, you may also need to directly address information from the denials, even if this is a new claim based on new information. That can increase the paperwork involved even more.

Get Help From a Qualified Attorney

It’s not easy to file for disability benefits in the United States because benefits require a high burden of proof. As a result, a large percentage of all first-time applicants are rejected. If you are applying for benefits, you need an experienced Social Security Disability attorney in Ocala. Contact JW Chalkley III, PA today for a free consultation at 866-629-7511 or fill out our online form.