Citation Nr: 21008620
Decision Date: 02/18/21	Archive Date: 02/18/21

DOCKET NO. 18-21 822
DATE: February 18, 2021

ORDER

Entitlement to service connection for a left leg injury is dismissed.

Entitlement to service connection for erectile dysfunction.

Entitlement to service connection for a right foot big toe injury is dismissed.

Entitlement to service connection for special monthly compensation due to loss of use of a creative organ is dismissed.

Entitlement to service connection for hypertension is dismissed.

FINDING OF FACT

The record reflects that the Veteran passed away in January 2021.

CONCLUSION OF LAW

Because the Veteran died, the Board has no jurisdiction to adjudicate the merits of the claims.  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 1969 to March 1971.

This matter comes to the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) from a March 2016 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO).

In January of 2021, the Veteran testified at a Virtual Board hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge.  A transcript of that hearing has been associated with the record. 

As a matter of law, appellants' claims do not survive their deaths.  Zevalkink v. Brown, 102 F. 3d 1236, 1243-44 (Fed. Cir. 1996).  The Veteran died during the pendency of the appeal.  Therefore, his appeal is moot by virtue of his death, and the Board must dismiss it for lack of jurisdiction.  See 38 U.S.C. § 7104(a); 38 C.F.R. § 20.1302.

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.  Moreover, the Board's dismissal of this appeal does not affect the right of an eligible person to file a request to be substituted for the Veteran 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; see 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).

Because the Veteran died during the pendency of the appeal, the issues of service connection for a left leg injury, erectile dysfunction, a right foot big toe injury, and hypertension, and entitlement to special monthly compensation due to loss of use of a creative organ, are dismissed.

 

 

Michael J. Skaltsounis

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Attorney for the Board	A. R. Montalvo, 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.