So you find yourself going through the Social Security Disability process and you hire a representative.  Ok.  No problem so far.  Then, for whatever reason, you find yourself not particularly happy with the services of your representative.  Again, no problem.  So you go and get another representative or you represent yourself. Then, something great happens.  After months or maybe years of frustration, you get approved.  YAAAAAAAY! It's party time.  After you get approved, you get a letter from the Social Security Administration indicating that a portion of your back pay is being set aside for Representative Fees.   Say what?  Now, don't panic. They do that automatically because you did have a representative at some point in time. Well, you want your money that is being set aside for the Representative because you fired them.  Problem?  Just a little bit. Sometimes, people don't understand that just because you fire your representative doesn't mean that they will not get paid.  Here's how it works.  Representatives are paid in two ways:  Fee Contract and Fee Petition.   Under the Fee Contract process, you have entered into a contract so that your representative receives 25% or $5300 (whichever is less.  On June 1, 2009, it goes up to $6,000) of your back pay.  If Social Security approves the contract, they will pay the representative if you win from your back pay.  The Fee Petition is a little different.  This process is based on the premise that the representative has to show the Social Security Administration the work that the representative has done in order to get a fee. So what does that mean as it relates to you firing your representative?  Well, it depends.  The Fee Petition process requires the representative to notify the client that he or she is petitioning for a fee and if the client wants to contest the fee, they can.  Which means, you can challenge the representative getting a fee or challenge how much the representative will receive. Now, you gotta look it from it's proper perspective.  If your representative has only been in your case one month and did nothing, I can see a really great grounds for saying they should get nothing.   However, if your representative has been in the case a few months or even years, or if they have done appeals, or if they have gone to court with you, you are going to have a hard time justifying that they deserve nothing. Just remember, it's important to understand that you do have the right to contest the fees of your representative if they are no longer your representative.  Just understand that if your representative did some work, they have a right to ask to be paid for it.