Citation Nr: 18146404
Decision Date: 10/31/18	Archive Date: 10/31/18

DOCKET NO. 13-01 403
DATE:	October 31, 2018
ORDER
Entitlement to service connection for hypertension is dismissed.
Entitlement to service connection for a lumbar spine disorder is dismissed.
Entitlement to a higher initial rating for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), currently evaluated as 70 percent disabling, is dismissed.
Entitlement to an effective date earlier than December 21, 2010 for the award of service connection for PTSD is dismissed.
Entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disability (TDIU) is dismissed.
FINDING OF FACT
In October 2018 the Board was notified that the appellant died in October 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 (2017).
REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION
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.  See 38 U.S.C. § 7104(a); 38 C.F.R. § 20.1302 (2017).
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).
 
Gayle Strommen
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	Matthew Schlickenmaier, Counsel