Citation Nr: 18147855
Decision Date: 11/06/18	Archive Date: 11/06/18

DOCKET NO. 17-53 121
DATE:	November 6, 2018
ORDER
The appeal on the issue of entitlement to an initial rating in excess of 30 percent for rectal fistula status post repair is dismissed.
The appeal on the issue of entitlement to a compensable initial rating for a rectum scar is dismissed.
FINDINGS OF FACT
A North Carolina death certificate received in August 2018 reflects that the Veteran died that month.  
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
Due to the death of the Veteran, 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.
REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS
The Veteran had active military service in the United States Air Force from April 1973 to November 1993.  
These matters come before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) from a May 2017 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Regional Office (RO) in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.  
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); 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 the claim to completion.  Such request must be filed not later than one year after the date of the appellant’s death.  See 38 U.S.C. § 5121A; 38 C.F.R. § 3.1010(b).  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 see 38 C.F.R. § 3.1010(a).  
 
M. C. GRAHAM
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	T. Wishard