Citation Nr: 18143032
Decision Date: 10/17/18	Archive Date: 10/17/18

DOCKET NO. 16-15 526A
DATE:	October 17, 2018
ORDER
The appeal as to whether a timely notice of disagreement (NOD) was received with respect to a February 2014 rating decision denying service connection for hepatitis C, a liver cyst, a kidney function condition, Alzheimer’s Disease, and a skin condition is dismissed.
FINDING OF FACT
In August 2018, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) was notified that the Veteran died in August 2018.
CONCLUSION OF LAW
Due to the death of the Veteran, the Board has no jurisdiction to adjudicate the merits of this appeal at this time.  38 U.S.C. § 7104(a) (2012); 38 C.F.R. § 20.1302 (2017).

REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION
The Veteran served on active duty from September 1966 to April 1970.
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 notes that the Veteran’s surviving spouse has filed a separate claim for dependency and indemnity compensation (DIC), which was granted in a September 2018 rating decision.  Nevertheless, the Veteran’s surviving spouse has not been substituted as the appellant for the outstanding issues as of the date of this decision.
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) (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).
 
DONNIE R. HACHEY
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	E. Mine, Associate Counsel