Citation Nr: 18142565
Decision Date: 10/16/18	Archive Date: 10/16/18

DOCKET NO. 17-63 608
DATE:	October 16, 2018
ORDER
Entitlement to service connection for a bilateral hearing loss disability is dismissed.
Entitlement to service connection for tinnitus is dismissed.
FINDING OF FACT
On July 17, 2018, the Board received confirmation 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 these claims at this time.  38 U.S.C. § 7104(a) (2012); 38 C.F.R. §§ 20.1106, 20.1302 (2018).
REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS
The Veteran had active service from September 1969 to March 1972, to include service in the Republic of Vietnam from July 1970 to July 1971.

These matters are before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a rating decision of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO).
The Board notes that the Veteran’s appeal originally included the issue of entitlement to service connection for an ischemic stroke.  However, the Veteran did not perfect his appeal of that issue following the issuance of the November 2017 Statement of the Case.  Therefore, that issue is no longer in appellate status, and no further consideration is necessary.

1. Entitlement to service connection for a bilateral hearing loss disability 
2. Entitlement to service connection for tinnitus
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).  Accordingly, these appeals on      the merits have 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) (2012); 38 C.F.R. § 20.1302 (2018).
In reaching this determination, the Board intimates no opinion as to the merits      of these appeals or to any derivative claims brought by a survivor of the Veteran.  38 C.F.R. § 20.1106 (2018).  The Board’s dismissal of these claims does not affect the right of an eligible person to file a request to be substituted as the appellant for purposes of processing these claims to completion.  See 38 U.S.C. § 5121A (2012); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.1010, 20.1302 (2018); 79 Fed. Reg. 52982-84 (September 5, 2014).  

A request for substitution must be filed with the Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ) not later than one year after the date of the Veteran’s death.  38 C.F.R. §§ 3.1010(b), 20.1302(a) (2018).  If the AOJ grants the request to substitute, the case will assume its original place on the Board’s docket. 38 C.F.R. §§ 20.1302(a), 20.900(a)(2) (2018).
 
K. A. BANFIELD
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	J. Anderson