Citation Nr: 18140913
Decision Date: 10/09/18	Archive Date: 10/09/18

DOCKET NO. 16-59 817
DATE:	October 9, 2018
ORDER
Entitlement to service connection for diabetes mellitus, type II, is dismissed.
Entitlement to service connection for kidney failure with advanced kidney loss is dismissed.
Entitlement to service connection for an eye disability is dismissed.
Entitlement to service connection for a right knee disability is dismissed.
Entitlement to service connection for a left knee disability is dismissed.
Entitlement to service connection for vertigo is dismissed.
Entitlement to a compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss is dismissed.
Entitlement to a rating in excess of 10 percent for tinnitus is dismissed.
FINDING OF FACT
VA has been notified the Veteran died on September [redacted], 2018.
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 CONCLUSIONS
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. § 7104(a); 38 C.F.R. § 20.1302 (2017).
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.






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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 Veteran’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; 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.  38 C.F.R. § 3.1010(b).


 
M. HYLAND
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	L. S. Kyle, Counsel