Citation Nr: 18152620
Decision Date: 11/23/18	Archive Date: 11/23/18

DOCKET NO. 16-26 385
DATE:	November 23, 2018
ORDER
The appeal for entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss is dismissed.
The appeal for entitlement to service connection for tinnitus is dismissed
FINDING OF FACT
A November 14, 2018 Report of Death, received in response to an inquiry to the Social Security Administration, notified the Board that the appellant died in September 2018.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1.  Due to the death of the appellant, the Board has no jurisdiction at this time to adjudicate the merits of the appeal for entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss.  38 U.S.C. § 7104(a) (2012); 38 C.F.R. § 20.1302 (2017).
2.  Due to the death of the appellant, the Board has no jurisdiction at this time to adjudicate the merits of the appeal for entitlement to service connection for tinnitus.  38 U.S.C. § 7104(a) (2012); 38 C.F.R. § 20.1302 (2017).
REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION
The Veteran had active service from March 1969 to January 1971. 
These matters come before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a May 2015 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in St. Louis, Missouri.
The Board also acknowledges that an informal hearing presentation has not been received from the Veteran’s representative.  However, no further action is required in this regard, or any other due process deficiency, if such exists, given that this case is being dismissed due to the death of the Veteran.
Unfortunately, the appellant died during the pendency of the appeal.  A November 14, 2018 Report of Death, received in response to an inquiry to the Social Security Administration, notified the Board that the appellant died in September 2018.  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).  Adjudication of the issues on appeal on the merits has become moot by virtue of the death of the appellant 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 either issue on appeal or to any derivative claim brought by a survivor of the Veteran.  38 C.F.R. § 20.1106.
The Board’s dismissal of the issues on 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 claims 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; 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 (listed on the first page of this decision).  38 C.F.R. § 3.1010(b).
 
U. R. POWELL
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	M. Espinoza, Counsel