Citation Nr: 21022029
Decision Date: 04/14/21	Archive Date: 04/14/21

DOCKET NO. 17-06 129
DATE: April 14, 2021

ORDER

Entitlement to an initial rating in excess of 10 percent for left wrist fracture residuals is dismissed.

Entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss is dismissed.

Entitlement to service connection for tinnitus is dismissed.

Entitlement to service connection for reduced visual acuity is dismissed.

Entitlement to service connection for receding gums with bleeding is dismissed.

Entitlement to service connection for hypertension is dismissed.

Entitlement to service connection for a low back disorder is dismissed.

Entitlement to service connection for left lower extremity sciatica is dismissed.

Entitlement to service connection for residuals of excision of a back lipoma is dismissed.

FINDING OF FACT

The Veteran died in September 2020 during the pendency of this appeal.

CONCLUSION OF LAW

Due to the death of the Veteran, the Board has no jurisdiction at this time to adjudicate the merits of this appeal.  38 U.S.C. § 7104(a); 38 C.F.R. § 20.1302.

REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION

Unfortunately, the Veteran died during the pendency of the appeal.  As a matter of law, veterans’ 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 Veteran 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).

 

The Board notes that the Veteran’s widow submitted a VA Form 21P-0847 (Request for Substitution of Claimant Upon Death of Claimant) in November 2020.  If the agency of original jurisdiction grants the request to substitute, the case will assume its original place on the Board’s docket.  38 C.F.R. §§ 20.1302(a), 20.900(a)(2).

 

 

KELLI A. KORDICH

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Attorney for the Board	T. Moore, 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.