SSA-827 Customer-Assembly Preparation Kit
This workflow helps you prepare an SSA-827 authorization used in a Social Security disability claim. PostalForm prepares the official form and delivers the unsigned preparation kit only to your verified address. PostalForm does not file, serve, or submit it. Read both pages, hand-sign and date the authorization in blue or black ink, obtain any required additional signer or witnesses, and return it through the SSA or disability examiner channel that requested it.
PostalForm prepares and prints an unsigned customer-assembly kit and sends it only to your verified address. You perform final assembly and submission.
PostalForm is not affiliated with Social Security Administration.
Need more context?
The form is ready to fill now. If you want supporting instructions, mailing notes, or source links, they are below.
Important details+
Answer the guided questions and PostalForm prepares the official form, leaves signature areas blank, adds a customer instruction cover, and sends the packet only to your verified address. Nothing is filed or submitted for you. Read both pages, hand-sign and date the authorization in blue or black ink, obtain any required additional signer or witnesses, and return it through the SSA or disability examiner channel that requested it.
What you need+
- Name, Social Security number, and date of birth of the person whose records SSA will collect
- Who is signing — the person themselves, a parent of a minor, a guardian, or another representative
- Signature and date (the authorization runs 12 months from this date)
- Mailing address and daytime phone number
- Hand-sign the printed form after the preparation kit is delivered
Form summary+
This workflow helps you prepare an SSA-827 authorization used in a Social Security disability claim. PostalForm prepares the official form and delivers the unsigned preparation kit only to your verified address. PostalForm does not file, serve, or submit it. Read both pages, hand-sign and date the authorization in blue or black ink, obtain any required additional signer or witnesses, and return it through the SSA or disability examiner channel that requested it.
How it works+
- Answer the guided questions and review the prepared form information.
- PostalForm prints the official form with signature areas left blank and sends the customer-assembly kit only to your verified address.
- After delivery, follow the cover instructions, hand-sign where required, and add every original, certified record, payment, witness, certification, companion form, or other physical item.
- Verify the current deadline and destination, then personally complete final submission through the official channel.
Where it gets mailed+
PostalForm mails the unsigned preparation kit to you. You complete the signatures, physical enclosures, and final submission yourself.
Packet order+
- Customer assembly instruction cover (remove and keep before final submission)
- Prepared unsigned form (signature and reserved third-party fields blank)
Common mistakes+
- Leaving the form unsigned or undated — sources cannot release records without it, and the claim stalls.
- Sending an expired authorization: the SSA-827 is only good for 12 months from the date signed.
- Using an outdated edition — SSA’s current version is Form SSA-827 (06-2024), which says to discontinue prior editions.
- Checking the “managing benefits ONLY” box on a normal disability claim, which limits what SSA can collect.
- Mailing it somewhere generic instead of returning it to the office or DDS examiner who asked for it.
FAQs+
What is Form SSA-827?
It’s the authorization SSA and your state disability determination service (DDS) use to request medical, educational, and other records that prove a disability claim. Doctors, hospitals, and schools can’t release records to SSA without it.
Do I mail the SSA-827 by itself?
Usually not — it’s signed as part of your disability application. If SSA or the DDS asked for a new one mid-claim, return it to the address in their letter (they often include a prepaid envelope).
How long is the SSA-827 valid?
Twelve months from the date you sign it. Sources can also release records created up to 12 months after that date.
Can I sign the SSA-827 electronically?
Yes — through SSA’s own processes: click-and-sign during an online disability filing, or attestation during a phone or in-office interview. For a mailed paper form, SSA policy asks for a pen-and-ink signature in blue or black ink.
Does a witness need to sign?
Federal law doesn’t require one for a normal signature. If the signer can only make an X mark, a witness who knows them must sign in ink — that situation is better handled at your local Social Security office.
Sources+
Related+
Last verified+
Last Social Security Administration verification: July 12, 2026