Citation Nr: 1800447	
Decision Date: 01/04/18    Archive Date: 01/19/18

DOCKET NO.  05-03 887	)	DATE
	)
	)

On appeal from the
Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Manila, the Republic of the Philippines


THE ISSUES

1.  Entitlement to service connection for asthma. 

2.  Entitlement to service connection for a psychiatric disorder, to include posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). 

3.  Entitlement to service connection for pulmonary tuberculosis. 


REPRESENTATION

Veteran represented by:	Disabled American Veterans


WITNESSES AT HEARING ON APPEAL

The Veteran and (at the January 2010 hearing) P.S.

ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD

H. Daus, Associate Counsel


INTRODUCTION

The Veteran served on active duty from May 1946 to February 1949.   

This matter was last before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) in September 2016, on appeal from a June 2004 rating decision issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Manila, the Republic of the Philippines.  In January 2010, the Veteran and P.S. testified at a Travel Board hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge. 

The appeal has been advanced on the Board's docket.  See 38 U.S.C. § 7107(a)(2) (West 2012); 38 C.F.R. § 20.900(c) (2017).


FINDING OF FACT

The Social Security Administration Death Index reflects that the Veteran died in October 2011.


CONCLUSION OF LAW

Due to the Veteran's death, the Board has no jurisdiction to adjudicate the merits of this appeal.  See 38 U.S.C. § 7104(a) (West 2012); 38 C.F.R. § 20.1302 (2017).


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.  See 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 has become moot by virtue of the Veteran's death and must be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.  See 38 U.S.C. § 7104(a); 38 C.F.R. § 20.1302.

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 claims to completion.  Such request must be filed not later than one year after the Veteran's date of death.  See 38 U.S.C. § 5121A; 38 C.F.R. § 3.1010(b).  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 ...."  See 38 U.S.C. § 5121A; 38 C.F.R. § 3.1010(a).  An eligible party seeking substitution in an appeal that has been dismissed by the Board due to the Veteran's death should file a request for substitution with the VA office from which the claims originated (listed on the first page of this decision).  See 38 C.F.R. § 3.1010(b).


ORDER

The appeal is dismissed.



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

Department of Veterans Affairs