Citation Nr: 18143813
Decision Date: 10/22/18	Archive Date: 10/22/18

DOCKET NO. 17-25 773
DATE:	October 22, 2018
ORDER
The appeal for entitlement to service connection for a disability involving the neck and shoulder is dismissed.
The appeal for entitlement to service connection for lumbosacral strain is dismissed.  
The appeal for entitlement to service connection for hypertension is dismissed.  
The appeal for entitlement to service connection for diabetes mellitus is dismissed.  
The appeal for entitlement to service connection for residuals of a traumatic brain injury (claimed as head injury and skull fracture) is dismissed.
The appeal for entitlement to service connection for headaches is dismissed.  
The appeal for entitlement to service connection for depression is dismissed.  
The appeal for an initial disability rating greater than 10 percent for scars on both temples and the bridge of the nose is dismissed.  

FINDING OF FACT
The Veteran died in September 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); 38 C.F.R. § 20.1302. 
REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS
The Veteran served on active duty from February 1951 to May 1952.
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 appellant and must be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.  See 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.  See 38 U.S.C. § 5121A; 38 C.F.R. § 3.1010(b).  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; 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.  38 C.F.R. § 3.1010(b). 

 
T. MAINELLI
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	Heather J. Harter