Citation Nr: 20007397
Decision Date: 01/30/20	Archive Date: 02/13/20

DOCKET NO. 19-19 716
DATE: January 30, 2020

ORDER

The appeal for entitlement to service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death is dismissed.

FINDING OF FACT

An August 2019 Board decision issued prior to the promulgation of this decision, granted service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death, which represents a full grant of the benefit sought on appeal.

CONCLUSION OF LAW

As entitlement to service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death has been granted in full, there remains no question of law or fact on appeal, and the appeal is dismissed.  38 U.S.C. § 7105 (d)(5).

REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION

The Veteran had active service from September 1971 to September 1991.  The Veteran died in February 2018 and the appellant is his surviving spouse.

This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a June 2018 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).  The June 2018 rating decision denied service connection for cause of the Veteran’s death.  In August 2018, the appellant requested reconsideration of the denial of this claim, and the denial was continued in an October 2018 rating decision, and the appellant timely submitted a December 2018 notice of disagreement (NOD).  Following issuance of a statement of the case (SOC) in June 2019, a substantive appeal was timely received within 60 days thereafter.  As such, the June 2018 rating decision forms the basis of the present appeal.  

1. Entitlement to service connection for cause of the Veteran’s death 

As discussed above, the June 2018 rating decision on appeal denied entitlement to service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death, and the appellant timely filed a December 7, 2018 NOD.  Thereafter, a June 2019 SOC was issued as to this issue and the appellant timely submitted a July 5, 2019, VA Form 9, substantive appeal.  Subsequently, an August 2019 Board decision, in part, granted the appeal for entitlement to service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death, which was effectuated in a November 2019 rating decision.  Although in a January 2020 Informal Hearing Presentation (IHP), the appellant’s representative argued, in part, that an effective date prior to August 27, 2019 for the grant of service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death, as assigned in the November 2019 rating decision, was warranted, such is not before the Board.  In this regard, no VA Form 21-0958, Notice of Disagreement, has been received as to any aspect of the November 2019 rating decision.  Further, the January 2020 IHP also notes that this appeal stems from a December 7, 2018 NOD and a July 5, 2019 substantive appeal, which is consistent with the information VA’s Veterans Appeals Control and Locator System (VACOLS) as to this appeal.  

Accordingly, the Board finds that the appeal as to entitlement to service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death has been rendered moot as the benefit sought on appeal has been fully granted by the August 2019 Board decision.  Grantham v. Brown, 114 F. 3d 1156, 1158 (Fed. Cir. 1997).  Accordingly, the Board does not have jurisdiction over the issue entitlement to service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death.  Id.  Hence, there remains no case or controversy for the Board to resolve, and the appeal as to service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death is dismissed.  38 U.S.C. § 7105 (d)(5).

 

 

U. R. POWELL

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Attorney for the Board	M. Espinoza, 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.