TESTIMONY BY A FAMILY MEMBER, FRIEND

Social Security will often allow you to bring a friend, family member, or even a co-worker to give testimony at your hearing.  Sometimes this can help your case.  But not always.

I have some of my own guidelines I use when deciding whether having a witness to testify is potentially more helpful than damaging:

1.  Testimony of a close family member can be useful if the claimant is a child, a person with severe mental impairments or who has a difficult time expressing themselves.

2.  How well does the witness know the claimant and what is their relationship?  Is the witness in a position to have observed the claimant closely and regularly?

3.  Does the witness know what will be expected? 

4.  Is the witness going to be credible?

5.  What are possible ways testimony by the witness can backfire or hurt the case? 

6.  Do we really need a witness to win this case?

In short, there needs to be a reason for calling a witness to testify.  I need to understand the reason for having a witness.  I also need to spend enough time with the witness to verify credibility and help them understand their role in the hearing.

Not every hearing needs testimony from a spouse, family member or friend.  The judge is also going to be thinking, "Why do we need this witness?"  Unless there is a clear answer, a witness probably should not be called.