Citation Nr: 1602338	
Decision Date: 01/20/16    Archive Date: 01/27/16

DOCKET NO.  05-22 539	)	DATE
	)
	)

On appeal from the
Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Columbia, South Carolina


THE ISSUES

1. Entitlement to service connection for a low back disability.  

2. Entitlement to service connection for numbness of the lower extremities.

3. Entitlement to a disability rating in excess of 30 percent for a cervical spine disability.  


REPRESENTATION

Veteran represented by:	The American Legion


ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD

D. Martz Ames, Counsel


INTRODUCTION

The Veteran had active service from July 1954 to June 1980.

This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from an April 2005 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Columbia, South Carolina.  

In November 2009, the Board remanded this case to the RO via the Appeals Management Center (AMC) for further development and it has now been returned to the Board.  


FINDING OF FACT

In December 2015, the Board was notified by the VA RO in Columbia, South Carolina, that the Veteran died in December 2015.


CONCLUSION OF LAW

Due to the death of the Veteran, the Board has no jurisdiction to adjudicate the merits of this appeal at this time.  38 U.S.C.A. § 7104(a) (West 2014); 38 C.F.R. § 20.1302 (2015). 


REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION

Unfortunately, the Veteran 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 Veteran and must be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.  See 38 U.S.C.A. § 7104(a) (West 2014); 38 C.F.R. § 20.1302 (2015).

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 (2015).  

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 Veteran's death.  See 38 U.S.C.A. § 5121A (West 2014); 38 C.F.R. § 3.1010(b) (2015).  A person eligible for substitution includes "a living person who would be eligible to receive accrued benefits due to the claimant under section 5121(a) of this title ...."  38 U.S.C.A. § 5121A (West 2014); see 38 C.F.R. § 3.1010(a) (2015).  An eligible party seeking substitution in an appeal that has been dismissed by the Board due to the death of the Veteran should file a request for substitution with the VA office from which the claim originated (listed on the first page of this decision).  38 C.F.R. § 3.1010(b) (2015). 


ORDER

The appeal is dismissed.




		
K. PARAKKAL
	Veterans Law Judge, Board of Veterans' Appeals

Department of Veterans Affairs