Citation Nr: 18141010
Decision Date: 10/09/18	Archive Date: 10/09/18

DOCKET NO. 17-62 139
DATE:	October 9, 2018
ORDER
The appeal for entitlement to service connection for right knee joint osteoarthritis is dismissed.
The appeal for entitlement to service connection for left knee joint osteoarthritis secondary to right knee joint osteoarthritis is dismissed.
FINDING OF FACT
VA has been notified that the Veteran died in June 2018.
CONCLUSION OF LAW
Due to the death of the Veteran, the Board has no jurisdiction to adjudicate the merits of this claim at this time.  38 U.S.C. § 7104(a); 38 C.F.R. § 20.1302;   Veterans’ Benefits Improvement Act of 2008, Pub. L. No. 110-389, § 212, 122 Stat. 4145, 4151.  
REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION
The Veteran had active service from January 1971 to December 1972.  
Dismissal
Unfortunately, VA received notification that the Veteran passed away in June 2018.  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 to 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 claim to completion.  Such request must be filed not later than one year after the date of the appellant’s death.  See Veterans’ Benefits Improvement Act of 2008, Pub. L. No. 110-389, § 212, 122 Stat. 4145, 4151 (2008) (creating new 38 U.S.C. § 5121A, substitution in case of death of a claimant who dies on or after October 10, 2008).  As provided for in this new provision, a person eligible for substitution will include “a living person who would be eligible to receive accrued benefits due to the claimant under section 5121(a) of this title...”  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 RO from which the claim originated.
 
DAVID L. WIGHT
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	Miller, Erin (BVA)