How Does Moving Affect My Claim?

August 2008 Article
Renee A. Brown

A Social Security disability decision can literally take years. What effect does moving to another state have on a pending disability claim?

If you move, you need to report the move to the Social Security field office where you applied. That office will then notify the state agency where your disability claim is being processed (known in most states as DDS or disability determination services) so the claim can be transferred to the disability-processing agency in your new state of residence.

What if you move while your case is at the hearing office and you are waiting for a disability hearing to be scheduled? If you move out of state and your claim is pending at a hearing office in your original state of residence, you will need to notify the Social Security Administration that you have moved. You should also notify the hearing office (ODAR or Office of Disability Adjudication and Review) that you have moved. ODAR will need to transfer your claim to the new hearing office in your new state of residence. The new ODAR will now have jurisdiction over your case.

How does this affect your claim? When your file is pending at ODAR, it is basically in a line waiting to be scheduled for a hearing. There are cases ahead of it and there are cases behind it. Moving your case from one hearing office to another takes it out of one line and puts it into another line, possibly near the very back. Some hearing offices, however, have smaller backlogs and shorter wait times.

Some claimants may choose to not disclose a move so that they can avoid losing their place in line. If you choose this route, however, you will have to travel back to your original state of residence to attend your hearing. Further, when you appear for your hearing with new medical records from your new doctors in your new state of residence, the judge will probably notice that you have moved. He or she may decide that your case is no longer within the jurisdiction of that particular ODAR and refuse to hear your case.

It may be unavoidable to move while your hearing is pending. It is not always practical to put off a move until your case is done. Just keep in mind that moving is a gamble - you may end up at an ODAR with a short wait time or you could end up an ODAR with a much longer wait time.