Citation Nr: 20074591
Decision Date: 11/20/20	Archive Date: 11/20/20

DOCKET NO. 20-19 058
DATE: November 20, 2020

ORDER

The appeal of whether new and material evidence has been received to reopen a claim for entitlement to service connection for bipolar disorder, claimed as depression, is dismissed.

The appeal of whether new and material evidence has been received to reopen a claim for entitlement to service connection for arthritis, claimed as rheumatoid arthritis and joints, is dismissed.

The appeal of whether new and material evidence has been received to reopen a claim for entitlement to service connection for migraine headaches is dismissed.

The appeal of whether new and material evidence has been received to reopen a claim for entitlement to service connection for bilateral knee problems is dismissed.

The appeal of whether new and material evidence has been received to reopen a claim for entitlement to service connection for anxiety disorder is dismissed.

FINDING OF FACT

On November 2, 2020, the Board was notified that the appellant died in October 2020.

CONCLUSION OF LAW

Due to the death of the appellant, the Board has no jurisdiction to adjudicate the merits of these appeals 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 June 1981 to June 1984.  This matter comes to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a July 2017 rating decision of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO).

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 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.

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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).

 

 

D. JOHNSON

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Attorney for the Board	K. Vuong, 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.