Citation Nr: 21011882 Decision Date: 03/02/21 Archive Date: 03/02/21 DOCKET NO. 190318-6372 DATE: March 2, 2021 ORDER Service connection for skin cancer, to include as due to radiation exposure, is dismissed. Service connection for prostate cancer, to include as due to radiation exposure, is dismissed. FINDINGS OF FACT In February 2021 the Board was notified that the appellant died in February 2021. CONCLUSIONS 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 FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS The Veteran served on active duty from May 1946 to December 1951. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a September 2017 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). In October 2018, the Veteran opted into the modernized review system, also known as the Appeals Modernization Act (AMA), by submitting a Rapid Appeals Modernization Program (RAMP) election form and selecting the higher-level review lane. Accordingly, the December 2018 RAMP rating decision considered the evidence of record as of the date VA received the RAMP election form. In March 2019, the Veteran timely appealed the December 2018 rating decision by submitting VA Form 10182 Decision Review Request: Board Appeal (Notice of Disagreement) and requested direct review by a Veterans Law Judge. In July 2019, the Board, in relevant part, denied entitlement to service connection for skin cancer and prostate cancer. The Veteran appealed the Board’s decision to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claim (Court). In a June 2020 Joint Motion for Partial Remand (Joint Motion), the parties requested that the Court vacate and remand the portion of the July 2019 Board decision that denied entitlement to service connection for skin cancer and prostate cancer. The parties noted that the Veteran did not wish to pursue the appeal of that part of the Board’s decision that denied entitlement to service connection for leukemia, multiple myeloma and skin infections, including chronic staphylococcus and methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, and requested that the Court dismiss the appeal with respect to those issues. In a June 2020 Order, the Court granted the Joint Motion and returned these matters to the Board for further action consistent with the Joint Motion. This appeal has been advanced on the Board’s docket pursuant to 38 U.S.C. § 7107(a) (2); 38 C.F.R. § 20.900(c). 1. Service cancer for skin cancer, to include as due to radiation exposure 2. Service connection for prostate cancer, to include as due to radiation exposure Unfortunately, the appellant died during the pendency of the 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). This appeal on the merits has become moot by virtue of the death of the appellant 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 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. See 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). K. A. BANFIELD Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board M. C. Birder 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.