Citation Nr: 18153596
Decision Date: 11/28/18	Archive Date: 11/28/18

DOCKET NO. 15-38 989
DATE:	November 28, 2018
ORDER
The appeal of entitlement to service connection for tinnitus is dismissed.  
The appeal of entitlement to an initial compensable evaluation for bilateral hearing loss is dismissed.  
FINDINGS OF FACT
On October 16, 2018, the Board was notified that the appellant died on December 23, 2017. 
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
Due to the death of the appellant, the Board has no jurisdiction to adjudicate the merits of this appeal at this time.  38 U.S.C. § 7104(a) (2012); 38 C.F.R. § 20.1302 (2018). 
REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS
The Veteran had active service from January 1967 to January 1970.  This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) from a decision of a Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO).
This appeal was processed using the Veterans Benefits Management System (VBMS) and, in addition there is a Legacy (formerly Virtual VA) paperless claims electronic file.
1. Entitlement to service connection for tinnitus
2. Entitlement to an initial compensable evaluation for bilateral hearing loss
A May 2014 rating decision denied service connection for tinnitus but granted service connection for hearing loss which was assigned an initial noncompensable evaluation. 
In response to an RO letter of October 9, 2018, informing the Veteran that he was scheduled for a travel Board hearing on November 7, 2018, his spouse, and widow, called on October 16, 2018, and stated that she desired to represent the Veteran due to his death on December 23, 2017, and information from the Social Security Administration has confirmed that the Veteran died on December 23, 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 on the merits has become moot by virtue of the death of the appellant and must be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.  See 38 U.S.C. § 7104(a) (2012); 38 C.F.R. § 20.1302 (2018). 
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 (2018).  
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 (2012); 38 C.F.R. § 3.1010(b) (2018).  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) (2018).  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) (2018).


 
DEBORAH W. SINGLETON
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	Department of Veterans Affairs