Hi JD,

This is all so complicated. This is what I know so far:

Benefits are retroactive to the date you are determined to be disabled - not necessarily the date of the application. Once the date of disability is established there is a 5 month "waiting period" where no benefits are accrued (the dead zone).

Example: I applied 10/2007. The Judge ruled that I was determined to be disabled beginning January, 2009 (partially favorable ruling). My benefits became retroactive beginning June 1, 2009 (5 month waiting period - or the "dead zone").

Other tidbits in the fine print: The judge concurred with my pdoc that any and all funds need to be assigned to my "representative payee". This means that I have to call SSA and set up an appt. so that my rep payee can sign all documents allowing SSA to deposit funds on my behalf.

Other details: I owe my former private disability retroactive reimbursement
from June 1, 2009 to February 10, 2010 (the date my private disability payments ended). This is calculated by being the "lesser of all payments received". In other words, I owe almost 8 months of my disability payments.

The great news is that I found out that I don't owe my advocate (Allsup) any money because my private disability company is paying their fees! This saves me $5,000!

So that's the scoop for now. I hope that everything goes smoothly from here on out. I have been living on savings and family help since February. Not a good feeling! Hugs, Laurie