what to be aware of when divorcing your spouse
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what to be aware of when divorcing your spouse

Every marriage is not meant to last forever. No matter what the reasoning behind the divorce, it is important to have legal representation for each side. I almost lost everything because my former spouse said that he was taking care of things and that he would be fair about how the assets were divided. It took several weeks for me to find out what he was up to. It was then that I hired my own attorney and got what I deserved. You should never attempt to go through a divorce without a lawyer working on your side. On my site, I have listed several of the issues that can get overlooked if you are inexperienced with divorce documents and proceedings.

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what to be aware of when divorcing your spouse

Know Your Dates: Social Security Onset Dates

Joy Johnson

If you are no longer able to do the work you love because of a medical condition, you may be able to get some help from the Social Security Administration (SSA). The SSA is a government agency in charge of disability benefits and they offer qualified applicants a monthly financial payment when they are too sick to work anymore. The process of being approved for this benefit is somewhat complex and can be very confusing. Read on to learn about some very important dates you will need to understand when you fill out your application for Social Security benefits.

Understanding Why These Dates Matter

Since the application and approval process is so lengthy, the SSA provides applicants with something known as back pay. This pay is given to approved applicants in one large payment and thus is considered extremely valuable. The time between the moment you become disabled until you are approved for benefits might be months or even years, so back pay allows applicants to be paid for all those months all at once when they get approved. The longer it takes for your benefits to be approved, the higher your back pay will be. Since the SSA uses onset dates to determine how many months of back pay you can get, these dates are key.

Understanding Alleged Onset Dates (AOD)

As you fill out your application for benefits, you will be asked to state the date you became too ill to work at your job. In other words, the last day you worked at your most recent job. In some unusual cases, your onset date might be prior to your last day of work. If your medical condition has been affecting you for some time prior to stopping work, your AOD might be months or years before you finally stopped working. While you are not likely to be eligible for benefits for the months when you were earning money, the earlier AOD might be useful if there is a large gap in the number of years since you last worked and applied for benefits.

Understanding Established Onset Dates (EOD)

The SSA will review your AOD and will verify the date. To do so they will contact your employer and they will also review your medical evidence, such as medical records. If they accept your AOD, the date you first became too ill to work at your job automatically becomes known as the EOD. In some cases, the SSA will disagree with your date of AOD and assign a different EOD. This can happen when your medical records and your previous employer records do not align with what you stated on your application.

As you can see, this can be a difficult-to-understand aspect of getting approved for benefits. If you have reason to disagree with the SSA EOD or you have been denied benefits, speak to a Social Security attorney, like those at Parmele Law Firm, PC, right away.


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