Citation Nr: 18154746
Decision Date: 11/30/18	Archive Date: 11/30/18

DOCKET NO. 16-58 615
DATE:	November 30, 2018
ORDER
Entitlement to service connection for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is dismissed.
FINDING OF FACT
In October 2018, VA was notified that the Veteran passed away in September 2018.
CONCLUSION OF LAW
Due to the death of the Veteran, the Board has no jurisdiction to adjudicate the merits of his appeal at this time.  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 August 1982 to August 1997. 
This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from an April 2015 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in St. Petersburg, Florida. 
The Veteran testified at a videoconference hearing before the undersigned in August 2017.  A transcript is of record.
1. Entitlement to service connection for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Unfortunately, the Veteran passed away during the pendency of the appeal.  As a matter of law, veterans’ 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 Veteran and must be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.  See 38 U.S.C. § 7104 (a) (2012); 38 C.F.R. § 20.1302 (2017).
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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 (2017).  Further, 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.  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 (2012); 38 C.F.R. § 3.1010 (2017).
 
LESLEY A. REIN
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	E. Ko, Associate Counsel