When will you receive your disability benefits? A Miami Social Security attorney explains the process

Congratulations! After a long journey of filling out forms, attending hearings and dealing with the Social Security Administration (SSA), you received the good news that you are eligible for Social Security disability benefits. However, there may still be some bumps in the road of actually receiving your benefits from the SSA. Your knowledgeable Miami disability lawyer will assist you until your payments are in the correct amount and on track.

Once an administrative law judge (ALJ) has approved you for Social Security disability benefits, the SSA will process your claims and automatically send you your benefits. However, you will have to separately apply for benefits if you have children who are under 18 years of age, or under 19 years of age and still in high school.

Your benefits will probably start within 30 to 90 days, assuming that you have completed the five-month elimination period. If your hearing went through a hearing with an ALJ, you will most likely have to wait longer to receive benefits. Most ALJs take about one to three months to issue their written decision. When the decision is favorable, the claim file is then sent to the payment-processing center, where it can take another one to three months for current benefits to start.

However, if you still have not received your claims after 90 days, there may be a bureaucratic mix-up somewhere in the system. In such case, you will need to take some sort of action to deal with the delayed benefits.

Generally, the assistance of a disability lawyer is used to get a favorable decision from the SSA regarding Social Security Disability benefits. However, sometimes you may still need the assistance of your Miami disability lawyer if 90 days has gone by and you still have not received your benefits. For more assistance, contact Miami disability attorney Dierdre DiBiaggio.