Citation Nr: 1340168	
Decision Date: 12/05/13    Archive Date: 12/20/13

DOCKET NO.  13-10 134	)	DATE
	)

On appeal from the
Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in New Orleans, Louisiana


THE ISSUE

Entitlement to an increased rating for degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine L3, L4 (claimed as lower back pain), currently rated as 20 percent disabling.


REPRESENTATION

Appellant represented by:	Disabled American Veterans


ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD

M. N. Hyland, Senior Counsel



INTRODUCTION


The Veteran served on active duty from September 1987 to September 2007.

This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a July 2010 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.


FINDINGS OF FACT

1.	The Veteran in this case served on active duty from September 1987 to September 2007.

2.	On October 2, 2013 the Board was notified that the appellant died in August 2013.


CONCLUSION OF LAW

Due to the death of the appellant, the Board has no jurisdiction to adjudicate the merits of this claim at this time.  38 U.S.C.A. § 7104(a) (West 2002); 38 C.F.R. § 20.1302 (2013); but see Veterans' Benefits Improvement Act of 2008, Pub. L. No. 110-389, § 212, 122 Stat. 4145, 4151 (2008). 


REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS 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) (West 2002); 38 C.F.R. § 20.1302 (2013).

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 (2013).  

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 Veterans' Benefits Improvement Act of 2008, Pub. L. No. 110-389, § 212, 122 Stat. 4145, 4151 (2008) (creating new 38 U.S.C. § 5121A, substitution in case of death of a claimant who dies on or after October 10, 2008).  As provided for in this new provision, a person eligible for substitution will include "a living person who would be eligible to receive accrued benefits due to the claimant under section 5121(a) of this title ...."  The Secretary will be issuing regulations governing the rules and procedures for substitution upon death.  

Until such regulations are issued, 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.


		
K. A. BANFIELD
	Veterans Law Judge, Board of Veterans' Appeals

Department of Veterans Affairs