Citation Nr: 21008604
Decision Date: 02/17/21	Archive Date: 02/17/21

DOCKET NO. 16-55 418
DATE: February 17, 2021

ORDER

Entitlement to service connection for a right ankle disability, to include as secondary to a service-connected left ankle disability, is dismissed.

Entitlement to service connection for a left shoulder disability, to include as secondary to a service-connected right shoulder disability, is dismissed.

FINDING OF FACT

The appellant died on December [REDACTED], 2020, before a decision by the Board was promulgated on appeal.

CONCLUSION OF LAW

Due to the death of the appellant, the Board has no jurisdiction to adjudicate the merits of the issues on appeal, and they are dismissed. 38 U.S.C. § 7104 (a); 38 C.F.R. § 20.1302; but see 38 U.S.C. § 5121A; 38 C.F.R. § 3.1010.

REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION

The Veteran had active service from August 1978 to July 1979 and from May 1983 to August 1993.  The Veteran died in December 2020.

These matters are on appeal from a February 2015 rating decision.  

In September 2019, the Veteran testified before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge (VLJ) at a Travel Board hearing.  A transcript of this hearing is of record. 

The Board remanded the issues on appeal in January 2020 for additional development.

Service Connection

As the appellant died during the pendency of the appeal and substitution as the claimant has not been finalized, the appeal must be dismissed. 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 Veteran and must be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. See 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 the claim or to any derivative claim brought by a survivor of the appellant. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1106.

 

 

KELLI A. KORDICH

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Attorney for the Board	G. Slovick, 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 This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.