What a Witness May Be Asked at an SSA Disability Hearing

Someone who knows you well may be asked to provide testimony about what they’ve observed at your Social Security Administration (SSA) disability hearing.

This could be a spouse, relative, caregiver, friend, former coworker, former supervisor, or another person with firsthand knowledge of your day-to-day abilities and limitations. 

Called a lay witness, they don't give a medical opinion or explain your whole disability. Instead, they describe what they’ve seen, heard, or personally experienced in their interactions with you.

This article explains what a lay witness may be asked at an SSA hearing, why their testimony helps, and how the witness can describe observations clearly. It also shows how lay testimony differs from written third-party reports and expert testimony.

Questions a Witness May Be Asked at an SSA Hearing 

What a witness should be asked at an SSA hearing depends on your claim and what they've observed. The Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) decides what to ask the witness based on what needs to be resolved in your claim. You and your disability representative, if you have one, can also question the witness.

A spouse who lives with you is asked about different things than a former supervisor who saw you at work because they’ve witnessed different activities. 

The witness testifies under oath, and the judge typically starts by asking how they know you and how often they see you. Then, they typically ask about functional changes or difficulties the witness has seen. This tells the judge how your symptoms affect what you can do at home and at work, which feeds into your residual functional capacity (RFC), the SSA's assessment of the most you can still do. 

Examples include:

• Relationship and contact: How long have you known the claimant? How often do you see them?
• Everyday activities: What activities have you seen them struggle to complete?
• Fatigue and rest: Have you observed them needing to stop or rest during activities?
• Pace and completion: Have you seen them leave tasks unfinished or take longer than expected to do a task?
• Concentration and memory: What problems with remembering, following through, or staying focused have you noticed?
• Social or behavioral changes: What difficulties have you noticed when they interact with other people? 
• Everyday help: What help have you provided with daily activities?
• Changes over time: What changes have you noticed in what they can do?
• Work-related difficulties: If you worked together, what issues did you observe on the job?

These are examples of what a witness may be asked at an SSA hearing, not a script. A witness may be asked only a few of these questions. The judge may focus only on a specific part of the claim.

Why Witness Testimony Helps

Lay witness testimony is most helpful when it adds details or context to your statements and records. They can give an example, provide more context, describe how often something happens, or explain how they help you with daily activities. They're not repeating what you said. They're showing the judge that your statements are consistent with what someone else has seen.

Some examples:

• Someone who lives with you can describe patterns in your activities of daily living, such as when you need help, need to take breaks, or have to stop an activity. 
• A caregiver can describe the help they regularly give you and what happens when they aren’t available.
• A friend who is with you during an episode can describe what they saw before, during, and after it.
• Your spouse can describe what happens after you do a task, like if you need to rest all afternoon after running an errand.
• Someone who sees you less often may notice that you have the same problems each time you’re together.

How a Lay Witness Should Describe What They’ve Seen 

When a witness is asked about something they’ve seen, they should describe what you were doing, what they noticed, how they helped, and what happened afterward with as many specifics as possible.

If the witness knows how often something happens, they can describe the pattern, including how your good days and bad days differ. If they don’t remember how often or how long, they should say they don’t remember instead of guessing.

A witness should also describe what happened rather than make a broad statement. Instead of saying, “she can’t stand for very long,” they could say, “when we were waiting at the pharmacy, she kept shifting her weight and leaning on the counter. She asked me to find a chair, so I brought one over.” That gives the judge a clear example of what the witness saw.

A witness can also describe changes they’ve noticed over time. For example: “He used to walk his dog every evening when I visited. Over the past year, when I come by, he asks me to take the dog out and stays inside.”

If a witness knows something only because you told them, they should say that. If they didn’t see an event or don’t remember a detail, they should tell the judge they don’t know or remember.

How the Judge Asks Follow-Up Questions 

As the witness answers questions, the judge may ask follow-up questions to get more detail about something they said. Follow-up questions often focus on when something happened, what the witness saw, or what happened next.

For example, if the witness says, “he gets confused sometimes,” the judge may ask them to describe a specific time the confusion happened. The witness could explain that you lost track of the steps in a familiar recipe and needed help finishing it.

The witness should only answer the question being asked.

How to Prepare a Witness for the Judge's Questions 

A witness can prepare by thinking about questions they may be asked and writing down a few things to remember, such as how often they see you, a few specific events they remember clearly, how they help you, and changes they’ve noticed over time.

These notes can help the witness recall specifics when they testify at your SSDI or SSI hearing. 

Other Types of Evidence and Testimony

Information from other people becomes part of your record in different ways. People who know you may provide third-party function reports. Medical and vocational experts may provide testimony about specific evidence or your ability to work. 

Lay witnesses, written third-party reports, and expert testimony all help the judge decide your claim.

Third-Party Function Reports

A third-party function report (Form SSA-3380) describes your day-to-day activities, limitations, and the help you need. The report becomes part of your claim record.

The person who completed the report may also testify at your hearing. If they do, the judge can ask questions and get more detail about their observations than the written report provides.

Vocational Experts

The judge may call a vocational expert (VE) when they need information about how your limitations affect your ability to work. A VE answers work-related questions using their training and experience. They can help the judge evaluate whether you can do jobs you’ve done before or switch to other types of work despite your limitations.

Medical Experts

The judge may call a medical expert (ME) when the medical evidence in your record needs explanation. For example, an ME may help the judge understand if your condition meets or equals one of the SSA’s listed impairments. The ME may also explain unclear medical findings or help resolve conflicting medical evidence.

How Advocate Can Help

Advocate’s disability specialists can help you prepare for your ALJ hearing and decide if a witness could provide useful information. We can also help you and witnesses prepare for questions at the hearing.

Advocate specializes in Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) claims, as well as concurrent Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and SSDI claims. We can help at every step from application through appeals.

If you have an ALJ hearing scheduled or need to request one before the deadline, talk to us as soon as possible.