Citation Nr: 18154720
Decision Date: 11/30/18	Archive Date: 11/30/18

DOCKET NO. 16-46 518
DATE:	November 30, 2018
ORDER
The claim for service connection for a right shoulder disability, to include as secondary to service-connected left shoulder arthritis with rotator cuff tears is dismissed.
The claim for entitlement to a rating in excess of 20 percent for service-connected left shoulder arthritis with rotator cuff tears is dismissed.
The claim for entitlement to a rating in excess of 20 percent for service-connected cervical disc disease is dismissed.
The claim for entitlement to a rating in excess of 30 percent prior to October 7, 2016 and in excess of 70 percent thereafter for service-connected unspecified depressive disorder is dismissed.
FINDING OF FACT
In November 2018, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) was notified that the Veteran died that month.

CONCLUSION OF LAW
Due to the death of the Veteran, the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) has no jurisdiction to adjudicate the merits of the appeal.  38 U.S.C. § 7104(a); 38 C.F.R. § 20.1302; but see 38 U.S.C. § 5121A; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.1010, 22.1106.
REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION
The Veteran served on active duty from August 1980 to November 1983.  
Unfortunately, the Veteran 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); 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.  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 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 claims 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 38 U.S.C. § 5121(a) of this title [38 U.S.C. § 5121(a)].”  38 U.S.C. § 5121A; 38 C.F.R. § 3.1010(a).

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An eligible party seeking substitution in an appeal that has been dismissed by the Board due to the death of the Veteran should file a request for substitution with the agency of original jurisdiction from which the Veteran’s claims originated.  38 C.F.R. § 3.1010(b).


 
Nathan Kroes
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	M. Gonzalez, Associate Counsel