Citation Nr: 20067006
Decision Date: 10/15/20	Archive Date: 10/15/20

DOCKET NO. 13-24 225
DATE: October 15, 2020

ORDER

The appeal seeking a rating higher than 20 percent for residual non-disfiguring scars is dismissed.

FINDING OF FACT

On September 29, 2020, VA was notified that the Veteran died earlier that month.

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 had active service in the U.S. Air Force from February 1952 to January 1956.  This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a December 2009 rating decision.  The Veteran testified before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge at a Board hearing in May 2016, and the matter was later remanded for additional development in January 2018.

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.  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 Veteran 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.  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).

 

 

JOHN Z. JONES

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Attorney for the Board	Shamil Patel, 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.