Citation Nr: 1338402	
Decision Date: 11/22/13    Archive Date: 12/06/13

DOCKET NO.  11-08 910	)	DATE
	)
	)

On appeal from the
Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania


THE ISSUE

Entitlement to service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death. 


REPRESENTATION

Appellant represented by:	The American Legion


WITNESS AT HEARING ON APPEAL

The Appellant

ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD

T. Carmichael, Associate Counsel
INTRODUCTION

The veteran served on active duty from April 1942 to October 1945. 

This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a May 2009 rating decision by the Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, Regional Office (RO) of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), which denied entitlement to the benefits currently sought on appeal.


FINDING OF FACT

In March 2012, the Board received notification that the appellant died in December 2012, prior to the promulgation of a decision of her appeal.


CONCLUSION OF LAW

Due to the death of the appellant, the Board does not have appellate jurisdiction to review the claim. 38 U.S.C.A. § 7104(a) (West 2002); 38 C.F.R. § 20.1302 (2013).  


REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION

Unfortunately, the appellant died during the pendency of the appeal.  

As a matter of law, appellants' claims do not survive their deaths. Zevalkink v. Brown, 102 F.3d 1236, 1243-44 (Fed. Cir. 1996); Smith v. Brown, 10 Vet. App. 330, 333-34 (1997); Landicho v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 42, 47 (1994). This appeal on the merits has become moot by virtue of the death of the appellant and must be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. See 38 U.S.C.A. § 7104(a); 38 C.F.R. § 20.1302.  
In reaching this determination, the Board intimates no opinion as to the merits of this appeal or to any derivative claim brought by a survivor of the veteran. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1106.  

The Board's dismissal of this appeal does not affect the right of an eligible person to file a request to be substituted as the appellant for purposes of processing the claim to completion. Such request must be filed not later than one year after the date of the appellant's death. See 38 U.S.C. § 5121a (substitution in case of death of a claimant who dies on or after October 10, 2008). An eligible party seeking substitution in an appeal that has been dismissed by the Board due to the death of the claimant should file a request for substitution with the VA regional office (RO) from which the claim originated (listed on the first page of this decision).  


ORDER

The appeal is dismissed.




____________________________________________
Vito A. Clementi
Veterans Law Judge, Board of Veterans' Appeals

Department of Veterans Affairs