Common trick questions asked by Social Security Disability judges include questions like, can you describe a typical day for me? Do you take care of any children? Do you take any medications? Do you have any side effects from any of your medications? Can you drive a car?
Each of those questions by themselves are innocuous and pretty easy to answer, but it’s important to understand why the judge is asking them.
Above all else, whether a question asked by a Social Security judge is a trick question or not, it’s important to understand and remember that you need to be honest.
By having a Social Security attorney representing you at the hearing, the attorney can help prepare you for some of these “trick questions” by the judge. The attorney can explain what types of questions to expect and go through with you your limitations, your daily activities, and considerations you may want to make in formulating your questions.
An attorney should never tell you how to answer a question, but they will, through discussions with you, help you understand why certain questions are being asked, what the purpose of the hearing is, and what type of testimony they want to draw before the judge.
So it’s important to remember to always be honest – regardless of whether a question is a trick question or not. Having an attorney there to help prepare you for the hearing can be helpful to understand the purpose behind the hearing, the purpose behind the questions, and what kind of answers you should be truthfully giving getting to the judge.
