Citation Nr: 18157279
Decision Date: 12/12/18	Archive Date: 12/12/18

DOCKET NO. 14-09 110
DATE:	December 12, 2018
ORDER
The appeal for entitlement to a rating in excess of 10 percent for residuals of a fractured lower jaw is dismissed.
FINDING OF FACT
On October 10, 2018, the Board was notified that the appellant died in August 2018.
CONCLUSION 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); 38 C.F.R. § 20.1302.
REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION
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.  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.
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. The Board acknowledges that the Veteran’s wife submitted a request for substitution of claimant in November 2018. The Board may not adjudicate claims for substitution in the first instance, and the regional office has yet to make a ruling on the claim. Therefore, the Board must dismiss the pending appeal. Should the regional office grant the claim of substitution, the appeal will assume its original place on the docket. 
 
Eric S. Leboff
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	R. Glenn, Law Clerk