back-disability owed to my father, who has since passed...

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? PA

ok, here's my problem - not sure if this is the right place to post it, but it's all i've found, so here goes...

my father had for several years been attempting to be put on 100% ss disability, i believe he was on 20% (some lower percentage, not sure exactly how high it was).

my aunt believes that just before he passed, he was approved for 100%, which included back-disability since the time he had first filed...but she doesn't know for sure. my reason for trying to figure this out is that if he was in fact approved and would get that back-money, i believe it would come to me as his only surviving heir (he and my mom were divorced).

my family is extremely disorganized, so while i'm trying to change that fact i still have no idea where to start. i do have my dad's SSN, but i don't know who to call to start the process. any help would be greatly appreciated...if you need any more information in order to help, please let me know and i'll get you whatever i can!

You would contact Social Security. My mom never actually applied for disability, but when her cause of death stated emphysema--we found out she had been diagnosed 2 yrs before. She never wanted anyone to know. It wasn't total disability, but they did go back & my dad got a little extra for those two years for her. I don't think he had to jump through a lot of hoops--he never would have done it.

You can call them or visit their local office. Be sure to ask them to check your dad's records to see if he was represented by an advocate who is a Social Security Disability Attorney--if so, then get that attorney's name and address/phone number and then contact that attorney in person. If your dad has a Social Security Attorney he can finish the process of claiming this money and you should not be giving any information about your dad as you may innocently say something that might cause the award to be revoked. If there is no attorney representing him then you can feel free to discuss this with the Social Security clerk.

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])