Citation Nr: 18153788
Decision Date: 11/29/18	Archive Date: 11/28/18

DOCKET NO. 15-30 527
DATE:	November 29, 2018
ORDER
The appeal is dismissed. 
FINDING OF FACT
VA was notified that the Veteran died in November 2018.
CONCLUSION OF LAW
Due to the death of the Veteran (appellant), 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 on active duty in the U.S. Army from December 1966 to November 1968. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a November 2014 rating decision issued by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). 
Unfortunately, the Veteran (appellant) died during the pendency of the appeal. As a matter of law, appellants’ claims do not survive their deaths. See Zevalkink v. Brown, 102 F.3d 1236, 1243-44 (Fed. Cir. 1996). The merits of this appeal have been rendered moot by 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. See 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 Veteran’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 also 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). See 38 C.F.R. § 3.1010(b) (c).
 
H. SEESEL
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	Hannah Marsdale, Associate Counsel