Citation Nr: 20003752 Decision Date: 01/15/20 Archive Date: 01/15/20 DOCKET NO. 15-36 940 DATE: January 15, 2020 ORDER The appeal with respect to entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss is dismissed. The appeal with respect to entitlement to service connection for tinnitus is dismissed. The appeal with respect to entitlement to service connection for residuals of prostate cancer, status post prostatectomy (also claimed as prostate gland removal and urinary leakage), to include as due to exposure to herbicide agents, is dismissed. The appeal with respect to entitlement to service connection for erectile dysfunction, to include as secondary to prostate cancer, status post prostatectomy, is dismissed. The appeal with respect to entitlement to special monthly compensation based on loss of use of a creative organ is dismissed. FINDING OF FACT The Veteran died in November 2019, while the present appeal was pending. 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 in the U.S. Army from December 1967 to March 1972. This matter comes to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a September 2014 rating decision issued by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA) Regional Office in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Dismissal Unfortunately, the Veteran died during the pendency of this 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. 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 claims to completion. Such request must be filed not later than one year after the date of the Veteran’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). The Board notes that the Veteran’s widow submitted a VA Form 21P-0847 (Request for Substitution of Claimant Upon Death of Claimant) in November 2019. If the agency of original jurisdiction grants the request to substitute, the case will assume its original place on the Board’s docket. 38 C.F.R. §§ 20.1302(a), 20.900(a)(2). DAVID A. BRENNINGMEYER Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board R. Oldroyd, Associate 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.