Citation Nr: 21001821 Decision Date: 01/11/21 Archive Date: 01/11/21 DOCKET NO. 20-06 323 DATE: January 11, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to a rating in excess of 20 percent for residual fracture, single vertebrae is dismissed. Entitlement to a rating in excess of 10 percent for post-operative fracture, left femur with degenerative joint disease of the left knee is dismissed. Entitlement to a compensable rating for residual fracture, two ribs is dismissed. Entitlement to service connection for a bilateral hearing loss disability is dismissed. Entitlement to service connection for tinnitus is dismissed. Entitlement to service connection for allergies is dismissed. Entitlement to service connection for a heart disability is dismissed. Entitlement to service connection for hypertension is dismissed. Entitlement to service connection for a right shoulder disability is dismissed. Entitlement to service connection for a left shoulder disability is dismissed. Entitlement to service connection for a migraine headache disability is dismissed. Entitlement to service connection for a neck disability is dismissed. Entitlement to service connection for a nerve disability, right upper extremity is dismissed. Entitlement to service connection for a nerve disability, left upper extremity is dismissed. Entitlement to service connection for a nerve disability, right lower extremity is dismissed. Entitlement to service connection for a nerve disability, left lower extremity is dismissed. Entitlement to service connection for a sinus disability is dismissed. Entitlement to service connection for temporomandibular joint dysfunction is dismissed. Whether new and material evidence has been submitted, sufficient to reopen the issue of service connection for a right knee disability is dismissed. Whether new and material evidence has been submitted, sufficient to reopen the issue of service connection for a right thigh disability is dismissed. Entitlement to a total disability rating due to unemployability (TDIU) is dismissed. FINDING OF FACT On December 21, 2020 the Board was notified that the appellant died in December 2020. CONCLUSION OF LAW Due to the death of the appellant, the Board has no jurisdiction to adjudicate the merits of this 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 from August 1975 to August 1980. This matter came before the Board of Veterans Appeals (Board) on appeal from a August 2017 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). Unfortunately, the appellant 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. 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). E. I. VELEZ Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board A. Arnold, 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.