Citation Nr: 18143580
Decision Date: 10/19/18	Archive Date: 10/19/18

DOCKET NO. 15-43 791
DATE:	October 19, 2018
ORDER
The appeal is dismissed.
FINDING OF FACT
The Veteran died in August 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 served on active duty in the U.S. Marine Corps from December 1966 to August 1969.  This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a June 2014 rating decision issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
The appeal included the following four issues: 1) Entitlement to an initial rating in excess of 10 percent for diabetic retinopathy in the left and cataracts; 2) Entitlement to a rating in excess of 20 percent for diabetes mellitus; 3) Entitlement to a compensable rating for diabetic nephropathy; and 4) Entitlement to a compensable rating for sexual dysfunction. 
Unfortunately, the appellant 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 appellant and must be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.  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.
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.  38 U.S.C. § 5121A; 38 C.F.R. § 3.1010(b).  
(Continued on the next page)
 
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; 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).
 
D. JOHNSON
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	Mike A. Sobiecki, Associate Counsel