Tom Margenau has written a
syndicated column giving advice on dealing with Social Security. Mostly I agree with him but the column is an example of how something that is good advice for most people can be misleading for others.
Margenau recounts complaints from Social Security employees about claimants who call in to file claims for widows benefits who haven't bothered to find their husband's Social Security number (SSN) before calling. He says to find it before calling. Great advice for most people but what if you can't find that number? What if you were separated and lack access to any of your late spouse's records? What if you're divorced but were married long enough to get surviving divorced spouse benefits? Are you barred from filing a claim since you lack the SSN? No, you can still file the claim. Social Security can look up the SSN. It's certainly better to save their time by finding the SSN if you can but if you can't Social Security is still prepared to help you file the claim. Margenau goes on to recommend that claimants have not only the SSN but also date of birth, date of marriage, date of divorce and date of death. I'm pretty sure that while it would be best to have this information that it's not strictly speaking necessary.
You have to understand that I'm constantly dealing with clients who have already procrastinated for months if not years before filing a Social Security disability claim. Often the reason given for the procrastination is that they were trying to get their information together to file a claim. The claimants often wait to reach out for help from someone like me until they're destitute. That's irrational but people who become disabled often act quite irrationally. Mental illness causes this irrationality but just the dislocation coming from what is often an abrupt change in one's life brings about mental confusion. I wish I had had the opportunity to insist that claimants get on with it before the wolf gets to the door. Dealing with desperate clients who are facing homelessness is wearing. You want to do something for them immediately but while Social Security can expedite adjudication in cases of homelessness or threatened homelessness, it still takes months for a case to proceed through the process. Please, don't encourage procrastination in filing Social Security claims.