Used Van Gets in the Way of Deserved Benefits
Dante is a local father working full time to provide for his wife and Mia, their eight-year-old daughter. Mia has severe disabilities that require full-time care and the use of a wheelchair. As she’s grown up, her parents have had to become her champions. Together they navigate the complex process to access the Social Security benefits that keep Mia healthy and in school. One day, Dante comes home to a letter from the Social Security Administration (SSA). Mia’s benefits were being terminated. The supplemental income that helped the family get by was gone. Dante couldn’t figure out how to fix what had to be a mistake. He reached out to Mia’s social worker at California Children’s Services, who knew right away to connect him with Legal Aid SMC.
With help from an attorney, Dante was able to identify the problem. The SSA regularly reviews the financial resources that Mia’s family has. If the total value of their belongings ever goes over a certain limit, the administration assumes the family no longer needs financials support and automatically cuts the family off of their social benefits. Dante had recently purchased a used van to more easily transport Mia and her wheelchair but kept the family’s old pickup because he used it for work. Social Security claimed the value of the two vehicles put the family over their limit.
Dante’s attorney believed Social Security was overvaluing the old truck and filed an appeal. Dante worked hard for over a year to make ends meet while fighting for his daughter’s right before a hearing was scheduled. There, Dante and his attorney successfully explained the actual value of the vehicles was much lower than SSA claimed and the judge quickly ruled to reinstate Mia’s benefits. Without an attorney, Dante would have been left to try and represent his family in court alone. But with help from his Legal Aid lawyer, Dante and his family were finally able to get back to normal again.
To protect client confidentiality, all client names have been changed.