Citation Nr: 21062680
Decision Date: 10/08/21	Archive Date: 10/08/21

DOCKET NO. 18-28 257A
DATE: October 8, 2021

REMANDED

Entitlement to service connection for tuberculosis is remanded.

Entitlement to a rating in excess of 10 percent for residuals of a left index finger disability is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served on active duty from January 1991 to January 2015.

These matters come to the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a January 2018 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). 

1. Entitlement to service connection for tuberculosis.

2. Entitlement to a rating in excess of 10 percent for residuals of a left index finger disability.

Unfortunately, the record reflects that the Veteran may have died during the pendency of this 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). If an appellant dies during the pendency of an appeal, the appeal on the merits becomes moot by virtue of the appellant's death and must be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. See 38 U.S.C. § 7104 (a); 38 C.F.R. § 20.1302.

Here, the Board has received information suggesting the Veteran may be deceased.  An entry in VA's Veterans Benefits Management System (VBMS) database indicates that the Veteran died on July [REDACTED], 2021 and the cause of his death is unknown.  Another VA database VACOLS (the Veterans Appeals Control and Location System) also indicates that he died.

However, there is no death certificate or other official documentation of the Veteran's death in the claims file, the record does otherwise contain evidence of the Veteran's death, and the Board has thus far been unable to obtain confirmation of the Veteran's death through available Social Security Administration (SSA) databases. 38 C.F.R. § 3.211.

The Board cannot dismiss the present appeal at this time without some official confirmation of death, or proceed on the merits of the appeal, if the Veteran is still living, based on the present inconclusive record.

Accordingly, these matters are REMANDED for the following action:

The matters are REMANDED for the following action:

1. Please take action to: (a) confirm whether the Veteran has died; and (b) if the Veteran has died, to obtain some form of official documentation of the Veteran's death, for example, a death certificate or confirmation of the Veteran's death from the SSA. Contact may be made with the Veteran's family and/or any other State or Federal agency to obtain official confirmation of the Veteran's death.

2. After determining the Veteran's status, the RO should proceed accordingly.

3. If the RO determines that the Veteran is not, in fact, deceased, the case should be returned to the Board, along with any evidence confirming his status, for further appellate review.

 

 

Tiffany Dawson

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	J. Dorsey-Kwansa, 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.