Citation Nr: 18142373
Decision Date: 10/15/18	Archive Date: 10/15/18

DOCKET NO. 15-08 598
DATE:	October 15, 2018
ORDER
Entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss is dismissed. 
FINDING OF FACT
Prior to promulgation of a decision on this appeal, the Board was notified that the appellant died. 
CONCLUSION OF LAW
Due to the death of the appellant, the Board has no jurisdiction to adjudicate the merits of this appeal at this time. 38 U.S.C. § 7104(a) (West 2014); 38 C.F.R. § 20.1302 (2017). 
REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION
The appellant is a veteran (the Veteran) who had active duty service from September 1959 to September 1961. The Veteran died in September 2018.
This appeal comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) from a January 2013 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Houston, Texas.
Please note this appeal has been advanced on the Board’s docket pursuant to 38 C.F.R. § 20.900(c) (2017). 38 U.S.C. § 7107(a)(2) (West 2014).
Dismissal
Entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss. 
The appellant died in September 2018, 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 Veteran. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1106 (2017). 
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 (West 2014); 38 C.F.R. § 3.1010(b) (2017). 
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 (West 2014); see 38 C.F.R. § 3.1010(a) (2017). 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) (2017).
 
JONATHAN B. KRAMER
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	L. Cramp