Citation Nr: 18144148
Decision Date: 10/25/18	Archive Date: 10/23/18

DOCKET NO. 17-10 548
DATE:	October 25, 2018
ORDER
Entitlement to service connection for diabetes mellitus type 2 is dismissed.
FINDING OF FACT
Before promulgating a decision on appeal, the Board 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 (2018).
REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION
The Veteran served on active duty from August 1965 to June 1969.
Entitlement to service connection for diabetes mellitus type 2 is dismissed.
Unfortunately, the Veteran died during the pendency of the appeal. As a matter of law, Veterans’ 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 (2018). 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 (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. S. CARACCIOLO
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	Trickey, Jonathan