Citation Nr: 18159447
Decision Date: 12/19/18	Archive Date: 12/19/18

DOCKET NO. 13-14 729
DATE:	December 19, 2018
ORDER
Entitlement to an initial evaluation in excess of 10 percent for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is dismissed.
FINDING OF FACT
In correspondence, dated December 5, 2018, VA received notice that the Veteran died on November [redacted], 2018.
CONCLUSION OF LAW
Due to the death of the Veteran, 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
The Veteran served on active duty with the United States Army from August 1969 to September 1971.
This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a May 2011 rating decision issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in North Little Rock, Arkansas. 
In September 2013, the Veteran testified at a hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge at the RO. A transcript of the hearing is of record.
The claims were remanded by the Board in April 2015 for further development. The claim was subsequent denied by the Board in an August 2017 decision. 
In response to the August 2017 Board decision denying the claim, the Veteran appealed this decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC). A Joint Motion for Partial Remand (JMPR) was filed and in June 2018, the CAVC issued an updated Order vacating the August 2017 denial, and returned the case to the Board for action consistent with the JMPR. 
Entitlement to an initial evaluation in excess of 10 percent for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Death Dismissal
In correspondence, dated December 5, 2018, VA received notice that the appellant died on November [redacted], 2018. Unfortunately, the Veteran died during the pendency of the appeal. As a matter of law, claims do not survive a claimant's death. 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 appellant. 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. 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).
 
M. H. HAWLEY
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	Brandon A. Williams, Counsel