Citation Nr: 18140702
Decision Date: 10/05/18	Archive Date: 10/05/18

DOCKET NO. 18-28 507
DATE:	 
ORDER
The appeal with respect to the Veteran’s entitlement to service connection for residuals of head trauma is dismissed.
The appeal with respect to the Veteran’s entitlement to service connection for a cervical spine disability, claimed as the neck, is dismissed.
The appeal with respect to the Veteran’s entitlement to service connection for a left arm disability is dismissed.
FINDINGS OF FACT
1.  In September 2018, the Board was notified of the Veteran’s earlier that month.
2.  At the time of the Veteran’s death, his appeal with respect to service connection for residuals of head trauma and disabilities of the neck and left arm was pending.
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. § 7104(a) (2012); 38 C.F.R. § 20.1302 (2017).
REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION
The Veteran served on active duty in the U.S. Army from April 1951 to August 1954.  His decorations included the Combat Infantryman Badge and the Korean Service Medal with two Bronze Service Stars.
These matters come before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a May 2017 rating decision issued by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office.
The appeal with respect to service connection for residuals of head trauma and disabilities of the neck and left arm is dismissed. 
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. 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 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 claims to completion.  Such request must be filed not later than one year after the date of the Veteran’s death.  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; 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 Veteran should file a request for substitution with the VA office from which the claim originated.  38 C.F.R. § 3.1010(b).
 
DAVID A. BRENNINGMEYER
Acting Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	N. Stevens, Associate Counsel