Citation Nr: 18156730
Decision Date: 12/10/18	Archive Date: 12/10/18

DOCKET NO. 09-46 464
DATE:	December 10, 2018
ORDER
Service connection for diabetes mellitus, to include as secondary to herbicide exposure, is dismissed.
Service connection for hypertension, to include as secondary to herbicide exposure, is dismissed.
Service connection for Parkinson’s disease, to include as secondary to herbicide exposure, is dismissed.
Service connection for sleep apnea, to include as secondary to herbicide exposure, is dismissed.
FINDING OF FACT
Before the Board promulgated a decision in this appeal, the Veteran died in September 2016.
CONCLUSION OF LAW
Due to the death of the Veteran, the Board has no jurisdiction to adjudicate the merits of the issues on appeal, at this time. 38 U.S.C. § 7104; 38 C.F.R. § 20.1302.
REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS
The Veteran served on active duty from March 1967 to March 1969.
In June 2013 and April 2016, the Board remanded the above issues for further development. 
Death Dismissal
1. Service connection: Diabetes mellitus
2. Service connection: Hypertension
3. Service connection: Parkinson’s disease
4. Service connection: Sleep apnea
Unfortunately, the Veteran 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); 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.  38 C.F.R. § 20.1106.  Similarly, the Board intimates no opinion as to whether the AOJ substantially complied with its remand directives. See Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268 (1998).
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; 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 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 (the Regional Office in Indianapolis, Indiana).  38 C.F.R. § 3.1010(b). 
 
C.A. SKOW
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	A. Dellarco, Associate Counsel