Citation Nr: 18147229
Decision Date: 11/05/18	Archive Date: 11/02/18

DOCKET NO. 12-02 865
DATE:	November 5, 2018
ORDER
Entitlement to status as surviving spouse for purposes of death pension benefits is dismissed.
FINDING OF FACT
An obituary reflects the Appellant’s death in May 2017.
CONCLUSION OF LAW
Due to the Appellant’s death, the Board has no jurisdiction to adjudicate the merits of this appeal.  38 U.S.C. § 7104(a) (West 2012); 38 C.F.R. § 20.1302 (2017).

REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION
The Veteran had qualifying service from October 1966 to September 1968.  The Veteran passed away in August 2009.  The Appellant contended that she was the Veteran’s surviving spouse.  The Appellant passed away in May 2017.
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 has become moot by virtue of the Appellant’s death and must be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.  38 U.S.C. § 7104(a); 38 C.F.R. § 20.1302.  This dismissal 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.  An eligible party seeking substitution (“a living person who would be eligible to receive accrued benefits due to the claimant under section 5121(a) of this title...”) should file a request for substitution with the VA office from which the claim originated, no later than one year after the Appellant’s date of death.  38 U.S.C. § 5121A; 38 C.F.R. § 3.1010. 
 
R. FEINBERG
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	H. Daus, Associate Counsel