Citation Nr: 20009662
Decision Date: 02/05/20	Archive Date: 02/05/20

DOCKET NO. 18-38 031
DATE: February 5, 2020

ORDER

Entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include as secondary to service-connected metatarsalgia of the left foot, is dismissed.

Entitlement to service connection for a sleep disorder (claimed as sleep loss), to include as secondary to service-connected metatarsalgia of the left foot, is dismissed.

FINDING OF FACT

VA has received notification that the Veteran died in December 2019.

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 United States Navy from May 1979 to July 1981. 

This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a June 2017 rating decision by the 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 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. 

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 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; see 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).

 

 

J.W. ZISSIMOS

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Attorney for the Board	K.M. Walker

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.