Citation Nr: 21010385
Decision Date: 02/24/21	Archive Date: 02/24/21

DOCKET NO. 12-04 836A
DATE: February 24, 2021

REMANDED

Entitlement to home loan benefits is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served on active duty from October 1985 to March 1987.

This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from an April 2011 decision issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Home Loan Eligibility Center located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

1. Entitlement to home loan benefits is remanded.

Unfortunately, the record reflects that the appellant 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 claims file contains what appears to be a copy of a portion of an obituary indicating that the Veteran has died. Additionally, an entry in VA’s

VACOLS database 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, the matter is REMANDED for the following action:

1. The Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ) should 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, the VA Home Loan Eligibility Center, 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.

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

 

 

Tiffany Dawson

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Attorney for the Board	C. Banks, 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.