Most people looking for a disability lawyer in San Antonio are really asking two questions at once. Do I actually qualify, and is it worth paying someone to find out.
This page answers the first one directly. The second one costs nothing to answer, because the review is free.
Ask for a free review of your claim or your denial letter.
Do You Qualify for Social Security Disability?
You qualify if a medical condition prevents you from working at a substantial level, has lasted or is expected to last at least twelve continuous months, and you meet the financial requirements of one of the two programs.
Three tests, and all three have to be satisfied.
The duration test
Your condition must have lasted, or be expected to last, at least twelve continuous months, or be expected to result in death. This is the requirement at 20 C.F.R. § 404.1509.
Partial disability does not qualify. Short-term disability does not qualify. This surprises people who have a serious condition with a six-month recovery, and it is one of the most common reasons a legitimate claim is denied.
The work test
This is the step most claimants fail without understanding why.
The question is not whether you can do your old job. It is whether you can do any work that exists in significant numbers in the national economy, taking your age, education, and work history into account. Someone who can no longer do heavy construction but could theoretically do sedentary work does not automatically qualify, unless age and work history bring a medical-vocational guideline into play.
The agency works through this with a five-step sequence at 20 C.F.R. § 404.1520:
- Are you working above the substantial gainful activity level? If yes, the claim ends here.
- Is your impairment severe? If not, the claim ends.
- Does it meet a listed impairment? If yes, you are approved. If not, the claim continues.
- Can you still do your past work? If yes, the claim ends.
- Can you do other work? If yes, the claim ends. If not, you are approved.
Most approvals happen at steps four and five, not at step three. Failing to meet a listing is normal and is not a reason to stop.
The financial test
Which program applies depends on your work history, and the medical standard is identical in both.
| SSDI | SSI | |
|---|---|---|
| Qualifies you | Work credits from covered employment | Limited income and resources |
| Work history needed | Yes | No |
| Time limit | Insured status can expire | None |
| Spouse’s income counts | No | Yes |
Some people qualify for both at once. Our page on San Antonio Social Security disability claims covers the programs in more detail.
Not sure which of the three tests is your problem? Ask for a review.
For a free legal consultationwith a disability lawyer serving San Antonio, call (800) 562-9830
What Conditions Qualify for Disability Benefits?
Any condition severe enough to prevent sustained work. The agency maintains a catalogue of impairments, but the catalogue is a shortcut, not a gate.
Our reference on the SSA listing of impairments covers it by body system: musculoskeletal, respiratory, cardiovascular, digestive, neurological, mental disorders, immune system disorders, cancer, and others.
Two things about it are routinely misunderstood.
A diagnosis is not a qualification. Two people with the same diagnosis can be approved and denied, because the question is what the condition does to your capacity to work rather than what it is called.
Not meeting a listing does not end the claim. It moves the case to steps four and five, where most approvals actually happen.
The conditions that generate the most contested claims are the ones without a definitive test: fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, migraine disorders, neuropathy, chronic pain, long COVID, depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress. These are provable. They need a record built from longitudinal treatment history and functional detail rather than from an image or a lab value.
San Antonio Disability Lawyer Near Me (800) 562-9830
Where Are San Antonio Disability Hearings Held?
At the Social Security hearing office serving the address the agency has on file, and frequently by video or telephone.
Hearing offices are organized by service area rather than by county, so the office handling a San Antonio claim is set by your address. Our Social Security hearing offices directory maps offices to the areas they cover, and the Social Security Administration runs a locator of its own.
Practically, three things follow.
You may never travel anywhere. Hearings are held in person, by video, and by telephone, and claimants generally have a say in the format.
Your wait depends on that office rather than on a national average. Backlogs are uneven, and the agency publishes current information.
The application and reconsideration involve no appearance at all. Those decisions are made by Texas Disability Determination Services, a state agency, from records alone.
How Does a San Antonio Claim Get Decided Before Any Hearing?
By a state examiner and a state agency medical consultant reading a file that was assembled from a list you provided.
The Social Security field office checks eligibility. The Social Security Administration publishes a field office locator. The medical question goes to Texas Disability Determination Services, which decides it at the application stage and again on reconsideration.
That examiner requests records from the providers you listed and no one else. Two things follow.
Anyone you do not name is not contacted. A consultant seen twice, a therapist, a physical therapist, or a clinic you attended for a few months can hold exactly what the file is missing.
A consultative examination gets scheduled when the examiner decides the file falls short. It is short, the doctor has no history with you, and the report they write counts. Failing to attend can produce a denial for failure to cooperate, and the appointment letter goes to whichever address the agency holds.
Where Should Your San Antonio Claim Go From Here?
Six pages sit beneath this one, each covering a specific claim type.
| If your situation is | Go here |
|---|---|
| A Social Security disability claim at any stage | San Antonio Social Security disability |
| A Social Security claim already denied | San Antonio denied Social Security disability claim |
| An SSI claim, where the benefit is needs-based | San Antonio SSI disability claims |
| A long-term disability insurance claim | San Antonio long-term disability lawyer |
| An insurer that dismissed your doctor’s opinion | San Antonio denied doctor disability claim |
| A VA disability claim | San Antonio VA disability claims |
If you cannot tell which row applies to you, look at who sent the letter. The Social Security Administration, an insurance company, and the Department of Veterans Affairs are three separate systems with three separate rulebooks and three separate deadlines.
What Happens If You Are Denied?
You have 60 days from receiving the notice to appeal, at every level, and the agency presumes you received it five days after the date printed on it.
The rule is at 20 C.F.R. § 404.909, with parallel provisions for the later stages. Missing it usually means starting over with a later filing date and less back pay.
The ladder runs reconsideration, then a hearing before an administrative law judge, then the Appeals Council, then federal district court. Our pages on how to appeal a Social Security disability denial and on Social Security disability hearing representation cover each stage.
One thing worth knowing before you file the appeal: a request sent with nothing new usually produces the same result. What you add matters more than the fact that you appealed.
Denied? Send us the paragraph that gives the reason.
What Does a San Antonio Disability Lawyer Cost?
Nothing up front, and nothing unless benefits are awarded.
Social Security work is contingent. Nothing is owed unless the claim succeeds, and where it does, payment comes out of past-due benefits once the Social Security Administration has approved the figure. The cap is the agency’s. Its fee rules are published.
San Antonio Disability Questions
Do I have to be permanently disabled to qualify?
No, and this is one of the most persistent misconceptions in this area. The requirement is twelve continuous months, not permanence. A condition that improves after two years can still support benefits for that period, and there are provisions for a closed period of disability where someone recovered and returned to work after qualifying.
I am 58 and cannot do my old job. Does age help?
It can, significantly. The medical-vocational guidelines take age, education, and work history into account, and for claimants closer to retirement age they can direct a finding of disabled where a younger person with identical limitations would be expected to adjust to other work. Whether a guideline applies to you is a technical question worth having answered rather than assumed.
My doctor supports my claim. Why would I still be denied?
Because support is not the same as evidence in the form the agency uses. A letter saying you are disabled states a legal conclusion the agency reserves to itself and will not adopt. A statement quantifying how long you can sit, how much you can lift, how often you would be off task, and how many days you would miss is a different document entirely. That is the one that moves cases.
Can I apply if I have never worked?
For SSDI, no, because it is earned through work credits. For SSI, yes, since it has no work history requirement. There is also a third route many families do not know about: an adult whose disability began before age 22 may qualify on a parent’s earnings record, even with no work history of their own.
Do you have to be in San Antonio to represent me?
No. This is federal law worked almost entirely on paper, with hearings that are often held by video or phone. Consultations are by phone and records move electronically. The things that actually decide the claim are the deadline on your letter and the state of the file.
How long will it take?
Months per level, with the hearing accounting for most of the wait. A claim that goes the full distance is better measured in years. The only two reliable accelerators are a complete file at the outset and not giving up a level that could have gone your way.
Qualifying Is Not the Same as Being Believed
Marc Whitehead, Disability Attorney
Almost everyone who calls has already decided they cannot work. What they usually have not done is translate that into the terms the agency actually decides in.
The system does not ask whether you are sick. It asks how long you can sit, what you can lift, whether you can concentrate through an afternoon, and how many days a month you would fail to show up. Those answers exist. They are usually just not written down anywhere.
Getting them written down is most of the work, and it is easiest before a decision rather than after.
Send us what you have. We will tell you which of the three tests your claim actually turns on.
Marc Whitehead & Associates. Free review for San Antonio claimants, no fee unless benefits are awarded.
Our San Antonio Office
8131 W Hausman Rd Ste 208 San Antonio,
TX 78249
Call or text (800) 562-9830 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form