Citation Nr: 18144087
Decision Date: 10/23/18	Archive Date: 10/23/18

DOCKET NO. 16-36 749
DATE:	October 23, 2018
ORDER
Entitlement to service connection for head trauma (also claimed as traumatic brain injury) is dismissed.
FINDING OF FACT
Before the Board promulgated a decision in this appeal, the Veteran died in September 2018.
CONCLUSION OF LAW
Because of 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 (2018); but see Veterans’ Benefits Improvement Act of 2008, Pub. L. No. 110-389, § 212, 122 Stat. 4145, 4151 (2008); 38 U.S.C. § 5121A (2012).
REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION
The Veteran had active air service from March 1988 to July 2009.  This matter comes to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a September 2013 rating decision issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Louisville, Kentucky. 
Service Connection – Head Trauma
Unfortunately, the Veteran died during the pendency of the appeal. As a matter of law, claims do not survive a claimant’s death. 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 (2018).
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. 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) (2018).
 
Kristin Haddock
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	Mariah N. Sim, Associate Counsel