Citation Nr: 18157358
Decision Date: 12/12/18	Archive Date: 12/12/18

DOCKET NO. 17-17 722
DATE:	December 12, 2018
ORDER
The appeal with respect to the Veteran’s application to reopen a previously denied claim for service connection for bone spurs of the bilateral feet is dismissed.
FINDING OF FACT
The Veteran died in August 2018, while the present appeal was pending.
CONCLUSION OF LAW
Due to the death of the Veteran, the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (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. Navy from July 1960 to July 1962, and from August 1965 to August 1975.  His decorations included the Vietnam Service Medal and Combat Action Ribbon.
This matter comes to the Board on appeal from a July 2015 rating decision issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office in St. Louis, Missouri.
Dismissal
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 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 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 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.  38 C.F.R. § 3.1010(b).
 
DAVID A. BRENNINGMEYER
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	A. Pierce, Associate Counsel