Citation Nr: 21011811 Decision Date: 03/02/21 Archive Date: 03/02/21 DOCKET NO. 18-40 327 DATE: March 2, 2021 ORDER Service connection for a respiratory disorder, to include as due to asbestos exposure, is dismissed. Service connection for a heart disorder, to include as secondary to a service-connected stressor-related psychiatric disability, is dismissed. Service connection for residuals of a stroke, to include as secondary to a service-connected stressor-related psychiatric disability, is dismissed. FINDING OF FACT On February 16, 2021, the Board was notified that the appellant died in January 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 March 1966 to June 1966 in the U.S. Army. This matter comes to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a February 2015 rating decision issued by an Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ) of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). In October 2019, the Board remanded the appeal for further development. This case has since been returned to the Board for appellate review, after the AOJ substantially complied with the Board’s remand order. Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268, 271 (1998). Unfortunately, the appellant died during the pendency of the appeal. The Board definitively became aware of the appellant’s death on February 16, 2021, according to a Social Security Administration (SSA) computer inquiry. Also, the AOJ (and presumably the Board) was aware of the appellant’s death as early as February 1, 2021, according to a February 1, 2021 VA letter sent to the appellant’s estate from the Director of his nearest VA Regional Office (RO). In addition, in a February 12, 2021 Report of First Notice of Death (VA Form 27-0820a), a VA legal administrative assistant documented the appellant’s recent death during a phone conversation with another individual. 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. 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. 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; 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). DAVID L. WIGHT Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board P.S. Rubin, 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.