Citation Nr: 20021884
Decision Date: 03/27/20	Archive Date: 03/27/20

DOCKET NO. 13-33 055
DATE: March 27, 2020

ORDER

The appeal as to the claim of entitlement to service connection for a middle and lower back disorder is dismissed due to the Veteran’s death.

FINDING OF FACT

In February 2020, the Board was notified that the Veteran died in February 2020.

CONCLUSION OF LAW

Due to the death of the Veteran, the Board has no jurisdiction to adjudicate the merits of the appeal at this time. 38 U.S.C. § 7104(a) (2012); 38 C.F.R. § 20.1302 (2019).

REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION

The Veteran served on active duty in the U.S. Army from November 1964 to September 1969, to include service in the Republic of Vietnam.

This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from an August 2011 rating decision of the Anchorage, Alaska Regional Office (RO).

In August 2015, the Veteran was afforded a videoconference hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge (VLJ). 

The Veteran died during the pendency of the appeal. As a matter of law, veterans’ 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). The 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 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 (listed on the first page of this decision). 38 C.F.R. § 3.1010(b).

 

 

Vito A. Clementi

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Attorney for the Board	B. Cohen, 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.