Citation Nr: 21074980
Decision Date: 12/16/21	Archive Date: 12/16/21

DOCKET NO. 20-01 610
DATE: December 16, 2021

ORDER

The claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss is dismissed.

The claim for service connection for tinnitus is dismissed.

FINDING OF FACT

In December 2021, the Board was notified that the appellant died in November 2021. 

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); 38 C.F.R. § 20.1302.

 

REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION

The Veteran served on active duty from May 1963 to May 1967.

These matters are before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a January 2019 rating decision of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO).

Unfortunately, the appellant 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). 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.

An appeal pending before the Board when the appellant dies will be dismissed without prejudice pursuant to 38 C.F.R. § 20.1302. 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. 

The Board notes that a request for substitution was filed in December 2021. Pursuant to 38 C.F.R. § 3.1010(e), the Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ) will decide in the first instance all requests to substitute, including any request to substitute in an appeal pending before the Board. Pursuant to 38 C.F.R. § 20.1302(a), the case will assume its original place on the docket if the AOJ grants the request to substitute. 

 

As the AOJ has not yet acted on the substitution request, the appeal must be dismissed at this time.

 

 

M. SORISIO

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	S. Jiggetts

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.