Citation Nr: 18146477
Decision Date: 10/31/18	Archive Date: 10/31/18

DOCKET NO. 15-25 852
DATE:	October 31, 2018
ORDER
The appeal is dismissed. 
FINDING OF FACT
During the pendency of this appeal, the Veteran died in September 2018. 
CONCLUSION OF LAW
Because of the Veteran’s death, the Board has no jurisdiction to adjudicate the merits of this claim at this time. 38 U.S.C. § 7104(a); 38 C.F.R. §20.1302. 
REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION
The Veteran had active service in the United States Army from April 1984 to July 2004. This matter is before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a January 2014 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO).  After a June 2015 statement of the case, VA received a Form 9 from the Veteran that limited his appeal to the issues of entitlement to service connection for diabetes, fatigue, skin condition (eczema), brain trauma, and left and right knees.
Unfortunately, the Veteran died during the pendency of this appeal, and the appeal will be dismissed. 
In October 2018, VA received notice that the Veteran died during the pendency of this 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 therefore has become moot by virtue of the Veteran’s death and accordingly 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 this claim to completion. See 38 U.S.C. § 5121A; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.1010, 20.1302. 
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A request for substitution must be filed with the agency of original jurisdiction (AOJ) not later than one year after the date of the appellant’s death. 38 C.F.R. §§3.1010(b), 20.1302(a). If the AOJ grants the request to substitute, the case will assume its original place on the Board’s docket. 38 C.F.R. §§ 20.1302(a), 20.900(a)(2). 
 
Paul Sorisio
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	G. Morales, Associate Counsel