Citation Nr: 18146206
Decision Date: 10/30/18	Archive Date: 10/30/18

DOCKET NO. 18-18 672
DATE:	October 30, 2018
ORDER
Entitlement to an effective date prior to February 7, 1994 for the grant of service connection for rheumatic heart disease, based upon clear and unmistakable error (CUE) in an April 1954 rating decision denying service connection for rheumatic heart disease, is dismissed.
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. The Veteran in this case served on active duty from July 1952 to February 1954.
2. On January 1, 2018, VA was notified by the Veteran’s surviving spouse that the Veteran had died in December 2017.
CONCLUSION OF LAW
1. Due to the death of the Veteran, the Board has no jurisdiction to adjudicate the merits of this appeal at this time.  Because of the death of the moving party, the Board has no jurisdiction to rule on this motion.  38 U.S.C. § 7104 (a) (2012); 38 C.F.R. § 20.1302 (2017).
REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION
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 Veteran and must be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.  See 38 U.S.C. § 7104 (a) (2012); 38 C.F.R. § 20.1302 (2017).
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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’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 Veteran’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 (listed on the first page of this decision).  38 C.F.R. § 3.1010 (b) (2017).
 
KRISTI L. GUNN
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	B. J. Komins, Associate Counsel