Citation Nr: 18139913
Decision Date: 10/26/18	Archive Date: 10/01/18

DOCKET NO. 15-38 943
DATE:	October 26, 2018
ORDER
Entitlement to service connection for Veteran’s cause of death is dismissed.
FINDING OF FACT
The Appellant died in May 2016. 
CONCLUSION OF LAW
Due to the death of the Appellant, the Board has no jurisdiction to adjudicate the merits of this claim.  38 U.S.C. § 7104(a); 38 C.F.R. § 20.1302.   
REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION
The Veteran served on active duty from January 1969 to February 1971.  He died in September 2010.  The appellant in this case is seeking Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) benefits as the Veteran’s widow.  The Appellant appeals a December 2012 rating decision from the VA Regional Office (RO) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 
Unfortunately, the Appellant died in May 2016 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. § 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 appellant.  38 C.F.R. § 20.1106.
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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; 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 . . ..” 38 U.S.C. § 5121A; see 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 death of the claimant 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).
 
JOHN J. CROWLEY
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	Timothy A. Campbell, Associate Counsel