Citation Nr: A21020282
Decision Date: 12/20/21	Archive Date: 12/20/21

DOCKET NO. 200921-196516
DATE: December 20, 2021

ORDER

Entitlement to payment or reimbursement for transportation expenses incurred on February 24, 2020, is dismissed.

FINDING OF FACT

In November 2021, the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) confirmed with the Social Security Administration that the Veteran died in October 2020.

CONCLUSION OF LAW

Due to the Veteran's death, 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 had post-Korean service.  This matter is on appeal from an August 2020 administrative decision which denied entitlement to payment or reimbursement for transportation expenses he incurred on February 24, 2020.  

Unfortunately, the Veteran died while his appeal of this matter was pending.  As a matter of law, appellants' claims do not survive their deaths.  Therefore, this appeal must be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.  38 U.S.C. § 7104(a); 38 C.F.R. § 20.1302.

There are, however, provisions in place to allow an eligible person to take a veteran's place in his appeal in order to get a final decision on the merits.  This process is called substitution.  A request to be substituted must be filed within one year of the Veteran's death.  38 C.F.R. § 3.1010(b).  Only certain persons are eligible for substitution.  They include "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).  Accrued benefits are "periodic monetary benefits."  38 U.S.C. § 5121(a); 38 C.F.R. § 3.1000(a).  Payment or reimbursement for transportation expenses, in contrast, would be one-time in a lump sum.  Pappalardo v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 63, 65 (1993) (a one-time specially adapted housing payment does not qualify as a "periodic monthly benefit" for purposes of 38 U.S.C. § 5121 and, therefore, is not payable as an accrued benefit).  

To learn more about who is eligible for accrued benefits, there is a helpful factsheet here:  https://benefits.va.gov/BENEFITS/factsheets/general/Accrued.pdf.  To file a request for substitution, you may use VA Form 21P-0847, "Request for Substitution of Claimant Upon Death of Claimant," which can be found online here:  https://www.vba.va.gov/pubs/forms/VBA-21P-0847-ARE.pdf.  The completed form may be submitted electronically via ACCESSVA.  The web address for ACCESSVA is https://eauth.va.gov/accessva/?cspSelectFor=dmhs.  Alternatively, you may mail the completed form to:

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Department of Veterans Affairs

Pension Intake Center

PO Box 5365

Janesville, WI 53547-5365

You may also submit the form directly to your nearest VA regional office.  To find a VA regional office nearest you go to https://www.va.gov/find-locations/?facilityType=benefits.

 

 

Thomas H. O'Shay

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	S. Becker

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.