Citation Nr: 18148191
Decision Date: 11/07/18	Archive Date: 11/07/18

DOCKET NO. 16-34 391
DATE:	November 7, 2018
ORDER
The appeal seeking entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss is dismissed.
FINDING OF FACT
In February 2017, the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) was notified that the Veteran died on February [redacted], 2017. 

CONCLUSION 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 FINDING AND CONCLUSION
The Veteran served honorably from January 1967 to October 1968. This matter comes to the Board on appeal from a September 2015 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 
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.  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.  The Board recognizes that the Veteran’s spouse applied for burial benefits in January 2018; however, that type of claim for benefits does not qualify as a request for substitution in this appeal.  See 38 C.F.R. § 3.1010(c)(2) (stating that a claim for accrued benefits, survivors pension, or dependency and indemnity compensation by an eligible claimant will be deemed to include a request to substitute if a claim for periodic monetary benefits was pending at the time of a Veteran’s death). 
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If an eligible person wishes to file a claim for substitution, such request must be filed not later than one year after the date of the appellant’s death.  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; 38 C.F.R. § 3.1010(a).  An eligible party seeking substitution in an appeal that has been dismissed by the Board due to the death of the claimant should file a request for substitution with the VA office from which the claim originated.  38 C.F.R. § 3.1010(b).
 
A. ISHIZAWAR
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	A. Griffin, Associate Counsel