Citation Nr: 18159599
Decision Date: 12/19/18	Archive Date: 12/19/18

DOCKET NO. 16-30 477
DATE:	December 19, 2018
ORDER
The appeal with respect to claims for service connection for a psychiatric disorder, gout, residuals of a stroke, and obstructive sleep apnea and a claim for a higher rating and an earlier effective date for hypertension is dismissed.
FINDING OF FACT
In December 2018, the Board was notified that the Appellant died in December 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
The Veteran served on active duty from May 1986 to March 1988. He served honorably in the United States Army. This matter comes to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from March 2014, August 2014, and October 2015 rating decisions by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Columbia, South Carolina.
Unfortunately, the Appellant died during the pendency of the appeal. According to the records of the Social Security Administration, another Federal agency, the Veteran died in December 2018, before the Board promulgated a decision in this appeal. In the absence of evidence to the contrary, a finding of fact of death made by another Federal agency will be accepted as proof of death. 38 C.F.R. § 3.211(g). 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. Such request must be filed not later than one year after the date of the Appellant’s death. 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; 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).
 
M. C. GRAHAM
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	T. Fales, Associate Counsel