Citation Nr: 20003134
Decision Date: 01/15/20	Archive Date: 01/14/20

DOCKET NO. 17-61 310
DATE: January 15, 2020

ORDER

Entitlement to special monthly compensation (SMC) under aid and attendance or housebound criteria has been dismissed.

FINDING OF FACT

The Board was notified in December 2019 that the Veteran has died.

CONCLUSION OF LAW

Due to the death of the appellant, the Board has no jurisdiction to adjudicate the merits of this claim at this time. 38 U.S.C. § 7104(a) (2012); 38 C.F.R. § 20.1302 (2018), but see Veterans’ Benefits Improvement Act of 2008, Pub. L. No. 110-389, § 212, 122 Stat. 4145, 4151 (2008).

REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION

The Veteran service on active duty from October 1965 to July 1968. Notice of his death was received in December 2019.

The issue on appeal comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) from a rating decision of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) issued in September 2017. In that decision the RO denied SMC under aid and attendance or housebound criteria.

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 to any derivative claim brought by a survivor of the Veteran. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1106 (2018). 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 Veterans’ Benefits Improvement Act of 2008, Pub. L. No. 110-389, § 212, 122 Stat. 4145, 4151 (2008) (creating new 38 U.S.C. § 5121A, substitution in case of death of a claimant who dies on or after October 10, 2008).

 

 

K. PARAKKAL

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Attorney for the Board	K. J. Kunz, Counsel

The Board’s decision in this case is binding only with respect to the instant matter decided. This decision is not precedential, and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.