Social security lawyers/advisers

[Anonymous]

My mom, single and 75, has gotten herself in some kind of mess with social security. It's too convoluted to go into now, but from what I can piece together, she cashed out an equity that made SS think her income FAR exceeds what it actually is, and the proper paperwork to address this was never filed. Now there is some bizarre spiral of them continuing to demand multiple payments of thousands of dollars from her while they are simultaneously withholding her monthly payment. I can't work it out to save my life and she refuses to give me POA, so I can't call them myself. She says she has talked to them dozens of times but it seems like she understands something different every time and all there is to go on is a pile of chicken-scratch notes she's made.

I really think we need a lawyer or advisor who knows the system and can help us navigate this. Any recs? I'm out of my mind trying to deal with her and fix this!

[Anonymous]

https://suyeslaw.com/

Joanna Suyes is a fabulous social security lawyer. I’m a different type of lawyer and send all my clients to her.

[Anonymous]

Avi Sacks, https://www.specialneedsalliance.org/advisory-council/

Most Social Security lawyers focus on getting people on disability benefits, but you really need someone with a different skill set. I know Joanna too and think she's great, but I don't know if she has experience with retirement and survivors benefits. If she isn't able to take this on, it's definitely in Avi's wheelhouse.

[Anonymous]

Another thing she can do is ask her member of Congress to do an inquiry. They won't take action on her behalf the way a lawyer would, but they can be useful in figuring out what's going on.

Does your mom get SSI (which has income and asset limits but should only be taking 10% for an overpayment) and/or retirement/survivors insurance (which has fewer income limits and no asset limits)? If the latter, there are new rules that people should only have 10% of benefits withheld for overpayments. So while you work to get this figured out, a quick thing the SSA field office should be able to do is adjust the withholding to 10% of her monthly benefit.

[Anonymous]

This is all much appreciated - thank you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Avi Sacks, https://www.specialneedsalliance.org/advisory-council/

Most Social Security lawyers focus on getting people on disability benefits, but you really need someone with a different skill set. I know Joanna too and think she's great, but I don't know if she has experience with retirement and survivors benefits. If she isn't able to take this on, it's definitely in Avi's wheelhouse.

This is the OP and I just wanted to say a HUGE thank you for this recommendation. I connected with him yesterday and he is the first person who actually understands the issue. Very grateful!!