Citation Nr: 1829917	
Decision Date: 10/25/18    Archive Date: 11/08/18

DOCKET NO.  15-27 449A	)	DATE
	)
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On appeal from the
Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Winston-Salem, North Carolina


THE ISSUE

Entitlement to eligibility for specially adapted housing or special home adaptation.


REPRESENTATION

Appellant represented by:	Paralyzed Veterans of America


ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD

Mary E. Rude, Counsel


INTRODUCTION

The Veteran served on active duty from March 1962 to May 1972.  He died in August 2018.


FINDING OF FACT

In August 2018, VA was notified that the appellant had died earlier that month.


CONCLUSION OF LAW

Due to the death of the appellant, the Board has no jurisdiction to adjudicate the merits of the appeal at this time.  38 U.S.C. § 7104(a); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.1000, 3.1010, 20.1302. 


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.

The Board acknowledges that the Veteran's widow has submitted a VA Form 21P-534EZ Application for Death and Indemnity Compensation, Death Pension, and/or Accrued Benefits in October 2018.  While in certain circumstances a claim for death and indemnity compensation can be accepted as a request for substitution in a claim that was pending at the time of a veteran's death, a claimant can be found eligible for substitution or accrued benefits only for claims for periodic monetary benefits, and not for claims for personal benefits administered through the Veterans Health Administration.  38 U.S.C. § 5121A; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.1000, 3.1010.  This issue therefore is not eligible for substitution or consideration for accrued benefits from the Veteran's surviving spouse.

In reaching this determination, the Board intimates no opinion as to the merits of this appeal or to any separate or derivative claim brought by a survivor of the Veteran.  38 C.F.R. § 20.1106.  


ORDER

The appeal is dismissed.




		
DEREK R. BROWN
	Veterans Law Judge, Board of Veterans' Appeals

Department of Veterans Affairs