Citation Nr: 18142756
Decision Date: 10/16/18	Archive Date: 10/16/18

DOCKET NO. 17-10 725A
DATE:	October 16, 2018
ORDER
Entitlement to service connection for a skin condition to include as due to Agent Orange exposure is dismissed. 
Entitlement to a rating in excess of 50 percent for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is dismissed. 
Entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) is dismissed. 
FINDING OF FACT
On September 25, 2018, the Board was notified that the appellant died September 2018. 
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); 38 C.F.R. § 20.1302. 
REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION
The Veteran had active service from October 1967 until January 1974.  
This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (BVA or Board) from a November 2013 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Regional Office (RO) in St. Petersburg, Florida. That decision denied entitlement to a disability rating greater than 50 percent for PTSD, entitlement to a TDIU, and entitlement to service connection for a skin disorder, to include as being the result of exposure to Agent Orange. Following receipt of a statement of the case addressing those issues, the Veteran perfected his appeal in March 2017.
On September 25, 2018, and prior to the promulgation of a decision on the appeal, the Board was notified that the appellant died September 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 appellant and must be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.  See 38 U.S.C. § 7104(a) (2012); 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.  
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 (2012); 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 (2012); see 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 (listed on the first page of this decision).  38 C.F.R. § 3.1010(b) (2017). 
 
MICHAEL A. HERMAN
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	T. Grzeczkowicz, Associate Counsel