Aug 6, 2012

Waiting Period For Social Security Disability Leads To Bankruptcy For Mother Of Gold Medalist

     From the Associated Press:
Court records show that the mother of Olympic gymnast Gabby Douglas [who won the gold medal for women's all around gymnastics] filed for bankruptcy earlier this year in Virginia. ...
Documents filed in January in the Eastern District of Virginia show Douglas' mother, Natalie Hawkins, filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy ...
Hawkins is separated from her husband and lists about $2,500 in income a month, which comes from Social Security disability benefits and child support, according to the documents.
Natalie Hawkins went on long-term medical disability in 2009, and there were six months when the single mother of four had little to no income. In addition to mortgage payments for her home, there were expenses for Douglas' training and her other three children.
     Where would you be if you had no income for six months?

Read Whmorhere: http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/08/05/2247264/gymnast-gabby-douglas-mom-filed.html#storylink=misearch#storylink=cpy

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Natalie Hawkins went on long-term medical disability in 2009, and there were six months when the single mother of four had little to no income.
Reamore here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/08/05/2247264/gymnast-gabby-douglas-mom-filed.html#storylink=misearch#storylink=cpy

Readmore here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/08/05/2247264/gymnast-gabby-douglas-mom-filed.html#storylink=misearch#storylink=cpy

Read more
here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/08/05/2247264/gymnast-gabby-douglas-mom-filed.html#storylink=misearch#storylink=cpy

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Same place I currently am. No car, no credit cards, no cell phone, no debt. Things look brighter when you take responsibility for your financial well-being.

Maybe she should have gotten a support order against her husband to supplement her income?

Anonymous said...

Considering there is a 5 month waiting period, she actually started receiving benefits fairly quickly.

Anonymous said...

The lifetime wages referenced are what Mr Biggs and his wife are expecting to accumulate as employees of the various "think tanks" they work for. Being lackeys for the one per cent pays very well.

Anonymous said...

"In addition to mortgage payments for her home, there were expenses for Douglas' training and her other three children".


Agree with first paragraph of 12:25 PM, August 06, 2012 comment.

Anonymous said...

What is her disability, I wonder? She was able to fly halfway around the world, stay up late, deal with the stress of the these games, do interviews...She seems really nice and capable and a supermom. What is her illness?

Anonymous said...

Peole make choices. She chose to pay for her daughter's training, which will likely result in millions of dollars of income. I would not question the legitimacy of her disability. She was caught short, and the only story here would be if her daughter did not make good on the sacrifice.

Anonymous said...

What was her plan if she had a temporary disability? What if she was only going to be laid up for six months and then be able to go back to work?

Apparently she made financial choices that benefitted her daughter but did so at her own expense. What was her plan to support herself? Did she spend as much money on her other children's dreams or just the now gold medalist.

This is not a valid commentary on getting rid of the waiting period but it is an example of how people don't plan for themselves. What about all those creditors who won't get paid for the items she purchased/used? Then they have to jack up their prices in order to stay in business since they gave away some services or items and didn't get paid.

So the mother's creditors also contributed to the gold medal. Almost makes me agree with Hillary's assertion that "it takes a village" and Obama's assertion that the self-employed people don't succeed on their own. Almost.

Anonymous said...

Been on leave without pay since May, because I didn't want to borrow sick leave. All my bills are being paid, because I save money.

diat said...

She was caught short

Anonymous said...

"there were expenses for Douglas' training."

Maybe you put that on hold and pay your bills.

Abdul bari said...

Hawkins is separated from her husband and lists about $2,500 in income a month, which comes from Social Security disability benefits and child support, according to the documents. Las Vegas bankruptcy lawyer