Citation Nr: 18142776
Decision Date: 10/16/18	Archive Date: 10/16/18

DOCKET NO. 18-19 578
DATE:	October 16, 2018
ORDER
Entitlement to service connection for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is dismissed.
Entitlement to service connection for coronary artery disease with valvular heart disease is dismissed.
Entitlement to service connection for right-sided stroke is dismissed.
Entitlement to service connection for Warthin’s tumor, status post parotidectomy, is dismissed.
Entitlement to an initial compensable rating for pulmonary fibrosis with old granulomatous disease with fibrotic interstitial changes is dismissed.
Entitlement to an initial compensable rating for a residual scar, status post excision of right ear epidermal cyst is dismissed.


FINDINGS OF FACT
VA received notice that the Veteran died in May 2018.
CONCLUSIONS 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. § 20.1302 (2017); but see 38 U.S.C. § 5121A (2012).
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) (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 (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 Veteran’s death.  38 U.S.C. § 5121A (2012); 38 C.F.R. § 3.1010(b).  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.

 
MICHAEL LANE
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	Department of Veterans Affairs