Citation Nr: 21021933
Decision Date: 04/14/21	Archive Date: 04/14/21

DOCKET NO. 20-26 385
DATE: April 14, 2021

ORDER

The appeal seeking service connection for right knee strain is dismissed.

The appeal seeking service connection for insomnia and memory loss is dismissed.

The appeal seeking service connection for right trochanteric pain syndrome is dismissed.

The appeal seeking service connection for left trochanteric pain syndrome is dismissed.

The appeal seeking service connection for shortness of breath, smell smoke and dizziness is dismissed.

The appeal seeking a rating in excess of 30 percent for right shoulder strain, and an earlier effective date for the award of service connection for the disability, is dismissed.

FINDING OF FACT

According to the Social Security Administration, the Veteran died in March 2021, before a decision by the Board on these matters was promulgated.

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 appellant is a Veteran who served on active duty from July 1979 to February 1993.  These matters are before the Board on appeal from a February 2019 rating decision.

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.  38 U.S.C. § 7104(a); 38 C.F.R. § 20.1302.n

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).

 

 

GEORGE R. SENYK

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Attorney for the Board	D. Schechner, 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.