Can My Social Security Disability Benefits Ever Be Taken Away?

After a long two year battle with Social Security, you finally receive your first Disability check. Then about a year later, you get a letter saying you have been cut off. Can this really happen? Well, yes and no. Unfortunately, receiving a favorable claim does not mean you will 100% receive benefits for the rest of your life. It is very common for Social Security to do periodic (every couple years) evaluations of favorable applicants to make sure their conditions have not improved. Though, in most situations you have no need to worry. Social Security does these checks to prevent future fraud of the system and this is positive so that the system can efficiently thrive moving forward.

In addition, if you are an SSI recipient, Social Security will do checks on your finances. This is also to prevent fraud. SSI is a needs-based program so Social Security does not want people receiving benefits unless they truly need them based on their financial situation. Social Security Disability has a zero tolerance policy for fraud and in 2012 invested $340 million to detect fraud, so they take it very seriously.

So yes, it is possible for monthly benefits to be taken away if Social Security later determines that you are no longer disabled. It is extremely common for them to do periodic reviews on your disability, but it is not very common for Social Security to actually take away benefits. If you would like to talk to an attorney about your Social Security Disability claim, Scheidler Law would love to talk to you today!