Citation Nr: 18150461
Decision Date: 11/15/18	Archive Date: 11/15/18

DOCKET NO. 17-26 254
DATE:	November 15, 2018
ORDER
1. Entitlement to service connection for bilateral tinnitus is dismissed.
2. Entitlement to a rating in excess of 10 percent for bilateral hearing loss is dismissed.
FINDING OF FACT
The Veteran died in September 2018, while the Veteran’s appeal to the Board was pending, and prior to the issuance of a final decision.
CONCLUSION OF LAW
Due to Veteran’s death, the Board has no jurisdiction to adjudicate the merits of his claims at this time.  38 U.S.C. § 7104(a) (2012); 38 C.F.R. § 20.1302 (2017); but see, 38 U.S.C. § 5121A (2012).


REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION
The Veteran served on active duty from November 1954 to September 1977.  
This case comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from an October 2015 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, which denied service connection for bilateral tinnitus, and granted a 10 percent compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss, effective March 5, 2015.


Death Dismissal
The Board has been made aware that unfortunately the Veteran died in September 2018.  As a matter of law, claims do not survive a claimant’s death.  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).  The 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 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.  38 U.S.C. § 5121A (providing for substitution in case of the death of a claimant who dies on or after October 10, 2008).  As provided for in this provision, a person eligible for substitution will include “a living person who would be eligible to receive accrued benefits due to the claimant under section 5121(a) of this title....” Id.  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 agency of original jurisdiction (AOJ). 38 C.F.R. § 20.1302.
 
Michael J. Skaltsounis
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	J.B. King, Associate Counsel