Citation Nr: 21022179
Decision Date: 04/15/21	Archive Date: 04/15/21

DOCKET NO. 18-08 143
DATE: April 15, 2021

ORDER

The appeal of the issue of entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder to include alcohol use disorder with unspecified depressive disorder (claimed as alcoholism) is dismissed.

The appeal of the issues of entitlement to service connection for a nose injury with residuals is dismissed.

The appeal of the issues of entitlement to service connection for allergic rhinitis (claimed as sinusitis) as secondary to a nose injury with residuals is dismissed.

The appeal of the issue of entitlement to service connection for left ankle with residuals is dismissed.

The appeal of the issue of entitlement to service connection for tinnitus is dismissed.

The appeal of the issue of whether new and material evidence had been submitted to reopen the claim of entitlement to service connection for a right hand condition with residuals is dismissed.

FINDING OF FACT

In April 2021 the Board was notified that the Veteran died in March 2021.

CONCLUSION OF LAW

Due to the death of the Veteran, 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 honorably on active duty in the U.S. Marine Corps from July 1980 to July 1984. This matter comes to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a March 2016 rating decision of Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office.

Unfortunately, the Veteran 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.

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.

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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).

 

 

LAURA E. COLLINS

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Attorney for the Board	C. Smith, 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.