I am so proud to be a part of the SC Access to Justice Commission and have the opportunity to work with Robin Wheeler and Stephanie Nye. Their work on the free legal information center in Newberry is fantastic. The Newberry Observer has a great article highlighting the center and the services offered to the residents of Newberry, SC.

Well done!

The Francis Marion University ARCH (Advancing Rural Community Health) Program will sponsor a series of free health screenings for the general public at the following locations:

Friday, March 9 – Wallace Elementary/Middle School, 3643 Highway 9 West, Wallace, 1 to 5 p.m.
Friday, March 23 – Trinity United Methodist Church, 300 Society St., Clio, 1 to 5 p.m.
Friday, March 30 – Mariah’s Catering, 154 Main St., Lynchburg, 1 to 5 p.m.
The screenings consist of height, weight, body mass index (BMI), blood pressure, blood sugar, and total cholesterol. Diabetics and those at risk for diabetes will also be offered a hemoglobin A1C (a test that measures diabetic control over the previous three months). All blood work will be done by finger stick and results will be immediately available. No appointments are necessary and fasting is NOT required.

Free nutrition counseling will be offered to those interested in weight loss or better control of diabetes, high blood pressure, or high cholesterol.

For more information about the screenings or the ARCH program, contact Paul DeMarco, MD at 843-661-1845 or email pdemarco@fmarion.edu.

Gordon Gates posted about representatives being able to pull status reports from the Social Security Administration. I went online to check it out, and it is really an amazing document. It has all of my pending hearings, where the hearing will be, if any decision has been recently made, and more. You can read more about it in his original post. If you are an attorney doing social security disability work, you really need to check it out!

One of the best things about practicing Social Security law is meeting all of the clients. People come to me for help and advice, and they are putting their trust in me to be able to assist them. Usually they are sick and hurting and do not even know where to begin in the process.

On a daily basis, my heart breaks for the people that come in the door. This is especially true when I learn they have a diagnosis that meets the definition of a “compassionate allowance.” That link takes you to a full list, but the compassionate allowance I most recently dealt with was a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.

The majority of the time, a compassionate allowance diagnosis is terminal and/or so severe the patient is not expected to recover. Generally, these should be approved at the initial application and the client will probably never need a lawyer.

However, I am happy to sit down with anyone and review the list as well as answer any questions that you may have about how the process works. Hopefully, the approval will be quick and you will not even need a lawyer to get involved.

If for some reason a claim with a compassionate allowance is denied, we will do everything we can to try and expedite the hearing process. There are some things that can not be rushed, but there are certain exceptions that allow us to ask for an expedited hearing. (More on those later.)

My entire firm has just returned from a weekend retreat for planning the 2012 year. I am very excited about what 2012 has in store for us!

There are currently 5 lawyers in the firm, and we have 12 fabulous staff members.

I’m Rangeley Chewning and I am the author of this blog. I have been at Jebaily Law Firm for 9 years now! This is a great place to work, and I am fortunate to have landed here 9 years ago. I went to the University of South Carolina School of Law and clerked for the Honorable John M. Milling upon graduation.

I primarily work in the fields of Social Security Disability and Personal Injury. I started the Disability Blog to have two purposes: 1) to inform readers about Social Security Disability and 2) to challenge myself to research and learn more about the field.

In 2012, I am challenging myself to writing more posts and keeping this site more visible. If you ever have any questions or want me to write on a particular topic, feel free to email me or call me at the office.

Thanks for reading!

If you are a Bank of America customer experiencing financial hardship, they are hosting outreach events.

If you are experiencing financial hardship, please register to attend a Bank of America customer outreach event in your area. There, you will have the opportunity to meet in person with one of our specialists to discuss your home loan and any assistance solutions—including loan modification options—that may be available to you.
Thursday, February 9 –
Saturday, February 11
8am-8pm
Embassy Suites North Charleston
5055 International Boulevard
North Charleston, SC
Event map »
To participate, you must register in advance.
We strongly recommend you do so now since space is limited. Register Now

There is also one in Charlotte.

I posted the following question on my facebook page:
What do you think happens to your house if you die and are a) married b) have kids and 3) have no will?

Most people assume that the surviving parent would inherit the house, cars, etc. This is not the case in South Carolina.
SC Code SECTION 62-2-102 states:

The intestate share of the surviving spouse is:

(1) if there is no surviving issue of the decedent, the entire intestate estate;

(2) if there are surviving issue, one-half of the intestate estate.

What does all of that mean? That if you are married and have children and no will? When you die, your spouse will get half and your kids will get half. If those children are under the age of 18? You may have to petition the court if you want to sell the house, and that can be a complicated process.

The much easier solution is to contact an attorney and get a will drafted. It isn’t scary– it is smart planning. There are kits available in places like Office Depot, but be very careful. It isn’t all that much more to hire a lawyer to do the will, and you know it will comply with South Carolina law. For example– in some states you can handwrite notes and scratch things out on a will. In South Carolina? That is an invalid change to the will and will be ignored. That seems minor, but trust me when I tell you it can become a major problem.

You can call my office at 843-667-0400 or the SC Bar Lawyer Referral Service.

(No post on this blog is intended to be legal advice or establishes an attorney-client relationship. Please call a lawyer for any specific questions that you may have.)

While you may be pondering what Jebaily Law Firm and the Pee Dee Heart Walk have in common, there is a common thread. Ever since I began doing Social Security disability I have noticed that almost every client has some sort of heart related problem. It may be high blood pressure, past heart attacks, high cholesterol, pacemaker, or a variety of heart related issues.

“Heart disease and stroke are the principal components of cardiovascular disease (CVD). CVD claims 35 lives a day in South Carolina, making it the leading cause of death.” (Source.) That statistic is MIND BLOWING! I have had more than one client die during the pendency of their case of a heart attack. In Social Security cases I am able to substitute a family member when this happens, and I get to be on the inside of what happens to a family when they are trying to rebuild after losing a loved one to a heart attack.

For those reasons as well as having two family members with pacemakers, I felt that this was an organization that I not only want to support, but that I NEED to support. I want to do everything I can to help improve heart health in South Carolina. Working with the Heart Association this year has given me a real sense of purpose in something outside of my job and family. I have made some new friends, met some new contacts, and participated in a larger community than I normally would.

We had a wonderful time at the Heart Walk. It is held at Francis Marion University, which has a beautiful campus. The day started cold and rainy, but there was still a great turn out! By the time the walk was ending and the emcee took the stage, the sun came out and brightened the day for all of the thousands of people that were walking to improve heart health. It truly was an amazing feeling to be a part of this event.

I am especially proud to report that I am currently the fourth highest fundraiser for the Pee Dee Heart Walk! I have raised $5,127.00 to date! Jebaily Law Firm is currently the team in SECOND place! We are above some really large corporate teams! As a team we have raised $8,721.00. I am extremely proud of everyone that is on my team, as well as the local staff of the American Heart Association. They are hard working and dedicated, and I have enjoyed working with them.

Every time I feel like I step into a Social Security hearing I feel like I am helping a family. As much as I love what I do, I would love it more if we can reduce the number of people in South Carolina that are affected by heart disease and stroke!

(If you would like to visit my personal webpage, it is located here.)

ocial Security Announces 3.6 Percent Benefit Increase for 2012

Cost-of-Living Adjustment is First Since 2009

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Monthly Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits for more than 60 million Americans will increase 3.6 percent in 2012, the Social Security Administration announced today.

The 3.6 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will begin with benefits that nearly 55 million Social Security beneficiaries receive in January 2012. Increased payments to more than 8 million SSI beneficiaries will begin on December 30, 2011.

Some other changes that take effect in January of each year are based on the increase in average wages. Based on that increase, the maximum amount of earnings subject to the Social Security tax (taxable maximum) will increase to $110,100 from $106,800. Of the estimated 161 million workers who will pay Social Security taxes in 2012, about 10 million will pay higher taxes as a result of the increase in the taxable maximum.

Information about Medicare changes for 2012, when announced, will be available at www.Medicare.gov. For some beneficiaries, their Social Security increase may be partially or completely offset by increases in Medicare premiums.

The Social Security Act provides for how the COLA is calculated. To read more, please visit www.socialsecurity.gov/cola.