Tips to Get Social Security Disability Benefits

I recently represented a client in a Social Security hearing that made me think to write about some little known rules used by the Social Security Administration to make disability decisions. The SSA calls these rules the Medical-Vocational Guidelines. My client was disabled by arthritis and fibromyalgia. She was 50 years old at the time she became disabled. She had only a 9th grade education. In all her past jobs she had always worked as a laborer or factory worker, jobs that required her stand all the time and lift heavy weights. She had never done a sit-down job. Her doctor gave the opinion that the most she would be able to do was a sit-down job.

Based on the Medical-Vocational Guidelines, my client was disabled and eligible for benefits. The Guidelines say that if a person is age 50 or older, has a limited education and has never done a sit-down job, it is assumed by these rules that they are considered disabled from all work, even sit-down jobs. These rules make it easier to prove that a person in these circumstances is disabled because a large category of jobs is already eliminated. So, if a person can only do a sit-down job, like my client, they are disabled according to the rules. The rules become even more lenient when a person turns 55 years old and then again at 60 years old. Also, other rules can come into play that are very helpful in different situations. However, many Social Security Administrative Law Judges do not remember to use the rules or apply them incorrectly.

At her hearing, I argued that my client was disabled and eligible for Social Security disability benefits according to the Medical-Vocational Guidelines. Happily for her, we expect a favorable decision from the Administrative Law Judge. You have a better chance of a happy ending to your hearing by talking with an attorney about your claim before going to a hearing. Make sure the rules work for you.

By: Sondra Burger
Attorney at Law
Charles D. Hankey Law Office
434 E. New York Street
Indianapolis, IN 26202
317-634-9818
800-520-3633
Website: http://www.hankeylawoffice.com

The author is an attorney in Indianapolis, Indiana who focuses her practice on Social Security Disability and Indiana Workers Compensation. She is a partner in the Charles D. Hankey Law Office P.C. and has practiced law for 19 years. She attempts to provide results with compassion. Copyright 2008.

Making-Work-Pay Tax Credit to Cause Unexpected Tax Liability

USA Today reports that millions of American taxpayers might get an unexpected tax bill in 2010:

More than 15 million taxpayers could unexpectedly owe taxes when they file their federal returns next spring because the government was too generous with their new Making Work Pay tax credit.

Taxpayers are at risk if they have more than one job, are married and both spouses work, or receive Social Security benefits while also earning taxable wages, according to a report Monday by the Treasury Department’s inspector general for tax administration.

Here’s why there’s a problem:

Most workers started receiving the credit through small increases in their paychecks in April.

The tax credit was made available through new withholding tables issued by the Internal Revenue Service. The withholding tables, however do not take into account taxpayers with multiple jobs or married couples in which both people work. They also don’t take into account Social Security recipients with jobs that provided taxable income.

The Social Security Administration sent out $250 payments to more than 50 million retirees in the spring as part of the economic stimulus package. The payments were meant to provide a boost for people who didn’t’ qualify for the tax credit.

However, they went to many retirees who also received the credit. Those retirees will have the $250 payment deducted from their tax credit — but not until they file their tax returns next year, long after the money may have been spent.

California Estate Tax Deductions

Pursuant to Internal Revenue Code section 2053(a), “the value of the taxable estate shall be determined by deducting from the value of the gross estate such amounts: (1) For funeral expenses, (2) for administration expenses, (3) for claims against the estate, and (4) for unpaid mortgages on, or any indebtedness in respect of, property where the value of the decedent’s interest therein, undiminished by such mortgage or indebtedness, is included in the value of the gross estate, as are allowable by the laws of the jurisdiction, whether within or without the United States, under which the estate is being administered.”

The amount an estate may deduct for claims against the estate has been a highly litigious issue. The lack of consistency in the case law has resulted in different estate tax treatment of estates that are similarly situated, depending only upon the jurisdiction in which the executor resides. The Treasury Department and the IRS believe that similarly-situated estates should be treated consistently by having Code section 2053(a)(3) construed and applied in the same way in all jurisdictions.

The Internal Revenue Service issued final regulations relating to the amount deductible from a decedent’s gross estate for claims against the estate under Code section 2053(a)(3). In addition, the regulations update the provisions relating to the deduction for certain state death taxes to reflect the statutory amendments made in 2001 to Code sections 2053(d) and 2058. The regulations primarily will affect estates of decedents against which there are claims outstanding at the time of the decedent’s death.

Decline Executor’s Fees

California’s probate fees paid to both the probate lawyer and to the estate’s executor are set by law. In an earlier blog, I laid out the 4-3-2-1 statutory fee system.

Your California probate attorney probably won’t decline being paid the statutory probate fee. But as the executor, you may want to consider waiving the fee. As is the case with any income you earn, the probate fee is subject to income tax. If you are the only beneficiary, then you will inherit the entire estate income tax free; in that case, why pay yourself the taxable fee when you can get all the property tax free?

You may also wish to consider waiving the probate fee if peace among the family is enhanced as a result. Some family members may not appreciate that you get more of the estate than they get even though you will legally earn it.

Have questions about California probate? Want to discuss how to probate a will in California? Call Mitchell A. Port at (310) 559-5259 where you can discuss death and taxes.

Social Security Benefits After Divorce.

Divorce does have some effects on social security benefits. The basics are quite simple. If you are entitled to receive social security benefits based upon your own earnings record, you will, of course, be able to collect social security after divorce based on that earnings record. However, if you were married for ten or more years, you might be able to collect social security benefits under your spouse’s record after you are divorce. There are a few qualifications that you must deal with.

The first issue to be addressed is the amount of time that you were married before the divorce. To collect social security benefits based upon your former spouse’s earnings record, you must have been married for at least ten years. If you or your spouse are considering divorce, this ten year time limit might be an important issue. For example, if you have been married for just nine years, and if having this social security benefit after divorce will help you, you might want to negotiate a one year separation before the divorce. That way, you have preserved your ability to collect social security under your soon to be ex spouse’s earnings record after the divorce. The one year separation could have some impact upon other rights that you need to address. So, it is a good idea to discuss this issue with your divorce attorney or with an accountant before finalizing a separation or divorce agreement.

You cannot collect social security under an ex spouse’s earnings record if you remarry. So, if you have carefully preserved this benefit after divorce, you might want to be very careful about remarrying. You can collect social security benefits under the next spouse’s earnings record, but the same time rule will apply. That is, you must remain married to that individual for ten years before you can collect social security under their earnings record.

Many people simply want to know how much they will collect in social security benefits. The general rule when collecting benefits under someone else’s earnings record is that you cannot collect more than fifty percent of that person’s benefit. So, if your spouse or ex spouse is going to receive a monthly benefit of $1500, you cannot collect more than $750 if you collect under their earnings record. You need to know what your own benefit will be to decide if you would be better off collecting under your own earnings record or under a spouse or former spouse’s earnings record after divorce.

The rules that pertain to collecting social security after divorce are different than the rules that pertain to collecting social security after the death of a spouse to whom you are still married. THose rules should not be confused.

You can always check with the social security administration to find out what your social security rights and benefits are. The social security administration also maintains a website that you can interact with to figure out your rights and benefits.

Jean Mahserjian has practiced family law for close to two decades and is the author of many books devoted to helping consumers understand family law, including the issues of child custody and support. To download free excerpts from her family law books, visit: Divorce Help.

The Legislative Process For Most Tax Bills

The legislative process for most tax bills is as follows: Upon its introduction, a tax bill is referred to either of two Congressional committees, the House Ways and Means Committee or the Senate Finance Committee. After hearings and committee deliberation, the bill is sent to the floor of the House or Senate, where it is deliberated on before a vote. A bill that is passed in one chamber will then be sent to the other chamber and is called an engrossed bill. If both chambers pass a bill with the same text, it can be forwarded to the President. If the House and Senate versions differ, a Conference Committee is appointed to meet and resolve the differences. Each chamber must then pass or reject the bill that emerges from the Conference Committee. If passed, this final version would then be submitted to the President.

As a result of this process, significant versions of a tax bill include:
· the bill as amended and reported by the House Ways and Means Committee,
· the bill as passed by the House, (House Engrossed Copy)
· the bill as amended and reported by the Senate Finance Committee,
· the bill as passed by the Senate, (Senate Engrossed Copy), and
· the bill as agreed to and reported by the Conference Committee.

As a bill goes through these stages, various documents are produced that indicate legislative intent. These include:
· the House Ways and Means Committee Report,
· the House debate and floor amendments,
· the Senate Finance Committee Report,
· the full Senate debate and floor amendments, and
· the Conference Committee Report.

The documents most reflective of legislative intent are the reports. They explain the reasoning behind the legislation as well as the meaning of certain phrases. The Conference Committee Report, in particular, is a good source for legislative history research. It usually explains why certain provisions were rejected and why others were included in the final legislation.

An additional report is sometimes published by the Joint Committee on Taxation (the “Joint Committee”), a committee comprised of members from both the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Committee on Finance, which makes tax policy and legislation recommendations. The Joint Committee’s reports, which are called “Blue Books,” consist of general explanations of major tax legislation. The Blue Books are derived from reports generated in the course of the legislation’s passage. The Blue Books are considered secondary authority, although they are highly regarded.

The Most Well Guarded Traffic Court Secrets.

Traffic Courts Around The Country Are Happy You Don’t Know This!

By Damon Dallah

So, what’s the most well kept secret in the traffic court industry? Simple! It’s the fact that beating a traffic ticket (specifically speeding tickets) is so damn easy to do!

If word were to get out among the general public about just how easy it is to beat a speeding ticket, the courts would have to shut down their doors for good. People would end up beating their cases each and every time they received a speeding ticket.

The courts would stand to lose millions of dollars. But fortunately for them, hardly anyone knows that beating a speeding ticket is a relatively uncomplicated task to accomplish.

The reason for this is simple… mind manipulation!

It all starts from the moment you receive your ticket. Think back to the last speeding ticket you got. Did the officer give you a number of options you could use to just pay the fine?

Did he even once mention that your ticket was beatable? Probably not.

This mind control is carried on inside the court when you go to give your plea. The judge will give you your three choices:

* Guilty

* No Contest

* Not Guilty

He will then describe each one a little more in detail. When he gets to the Not Guilty plea, his deliberate choice of words make it sound as if beating a speeding ticket is impossible.

For instance, after he talks about the Guilty and No Contest pleas (which by the way, he may mention are your “best” choices), he then will tell you that you have the option of pleading Not Guilty.

He will then continue with how well prepared the police officer will be, their experience in the courtroom, and how difficult it is to challenge a police officer on the stand.

He’s telling you this to scare you away from pleading Not Guilty. And it works. Most people don’t think they can put up much of a fight against the “almighty” police officer, so they don’t bother.

This mind manipulation also continues through the radio and TV. They want you to believe that speed kills. That exceeding the speed limit puts everyone’s lives at risk.

This way, when you receive your speeding ticket, psychologically it is imprinted in your brain that you have committed a very bad deed and should suffer the consequences as a result.

They want you to believe that the police officer was doing his job when he ticketed you by “saving lives”.

It’s all one big lie to keep the money rolling in. Don’t believe one word of it.

Here are some more secrets the traffic courts are happy you don’t know:

* There are required procedures the officer must do when issuing out a speeding ticket that he NEVER does!

* If you expose these unperformed procedures you will easily win your case.

* If two police officers were involved in the stop (as in one officer radioing ahead to another officer) then both officers MUST be present in court.

* If one officer is missing, you will win your case.

* If the police officer fails to show up to traffic court, you can easily prevent the judge from scheduling a new court date.

* While on the stand, there are several things the police officer must legally testify to.

* If he leaves even one of the required testimonies out, you will win your case.

* The evidence the prosecutor submits must be of a special type.

* If it is not, then you can have it thrown out and it can’t be used against you.

* If it is thrown out then the prosecutor and police officer are left with nothing and you will win your case.

* The prosecutor is not allowed to go get new evidence once the trial has started.

* The radar gun used to clock your speed had to have been extremely accurate at the time you were pulled over in order to hold up in court.

* The prosecutor or police officer must submit documents to prove its’ level of accuracy at the time you were pulled over.

* The documents that they present as evidence to the radar gun’s accuracy can easily be thrown out of court.

* In the event that no evidence was brought to court by the prosecutor or officer (50 to 70% chance), just by asking for it will easily have your case dismissed.

Here’s some more:

* You do not have to prove your innocence.

* You are innocent until proven guilty.

* The prosecutor is an inexperienced recent law school graduate who won’t know everything there is to know. This gives you an extreme advantage over him.

* The courts have a certain amount of time to try your case and if this time passes, your case will be dismissed.

* If the prosecutor fails to show up for court, the judge can not act as the prosecutor.

* The judge always encourages people to plead No Contest for their “protection”. He will state that after you give an explanation as to your excessive speed, he may find you Not Guilty. This is a flat out lie.

* He’s giving the impression that by pleading No Contest and giving a valid excuse as to why you were speeding, the charges against you will be dismissed. Don’t be fooled! Almost 99% of those that plead No Contest will be found guilty – good excuse or not.

There’s still a lot you don’t know. Visit my website for the whole scoop: TrafficTicketSecrets.com

Damon Dallah is an expert in the field of traffic ticket defense with an emphasis on speeding tickets. He’s taught hundreds of people with no legal experience the secrets to winning in traffic court. You can visit his website at TrafficTicketSecrets.