The Trial Work Period is a program where Social Security allows SSDI beneficiaries to try to return to work without losing their benefits.

During the first nine months that you return to work, you will continue to receive your SSDI benefits. At the end of nine months of work, your trial work period is over, and the SSA will decide if you have been doing “substantial gainful activity,” or SGA. (SGA for 2017 is generally earning $1,170 or more per month.) If your average earnings are over the SGA amount, your SSDI benefits will end. You must report your work activity and earnings to Social Security.

You are entitled to nine trial work months during your trial work period(which is 60 months), and a month doesn’t count toward your nine months if you make less than $840 (gross per month) or if you work less than 80 hours per month in self-employment (irrespective of the amount earned).

Also, if you have expenses that are incurred in the course of your employment that relate directly to your disability (such as needing a specific type of computer or a certain type of wheelchair), the Social Security Administration will deduct those expenses from your gross earnings before they determine if you are over the limit.

The part that traps a lot of people I speak with is that your nine trial work months need not be consecutive, so there can be gaps between your trial work months that count toward your nine-month limit. You only get 9 trial work months in a 60 month period.

Once you have used nine trial work months during any five-year period, you have exhausted your trial work period and are not entitled to another trial work period (unless your SSDI benefits end due to working, and you subsequently become entitled to benefits again by submitting a new application for SSDI benefits or through expedited reinstatement.

Still Have Questions On Trial Work Period? Get Answers From SSDI Lawyers

Contact our SSDI lawyers near Syracuse, NY and Watertown, NY for a free initial consultation.

No matter how much money you have, a will guarantees that whatever property, personal belongings and assets you have will go to family members or beneficiaries you choose. If you have children, a will is necessary, as it will ensure that you get to choose your children’s guardian.

Do I Need an Attorney to Make a Will?

No, you do not need an attorney to make a will, provided your document complies with all the statutory requirements. In our opinion, you should have an attorney prepare your will to make sure that your will is valid. Form wills from internet companies do not come with legal or tax planning advice specific for your needs, and that form company will not be there to testify on your behalf if that will is contested in court.

Without a will, your assets are distributed in accordance with the law of the state where you reside. Likewise, if your will is declared invalid, New York’s courts will distribute your estate in accordance with New York’s Intestacy Law, which distributes estates as follows:

• If you are survived by a spouse and children, your spouse will take the first $50,000 and one-half of the rest of your estate, and your children would share the rest.
• If your spouse dies before you, your children will share equally in your estate.
• If you have a child that died before you, that child’s children will share equally in that child’s share.
• If you are not survived by wife or children, your estate would go to your parents, uncles/aunts and cousins.
• If the court will not be able to find any of your relatives beyond a certain degree, the state will take over your property.

In your will, you also appoint an executor to take care of your affairs and distribute your estate. You would choose someone you trust to carry out your wishes. Without a will, your family might disagree with whom the court appoints as an administrator, which may result in probate litigation.

Contact us for a free initial consultation.