Citation Nr: 21023968
Decision Date: 04/21/21	Archive Date: 04/21/21

DOCKET NO. 17-67 853
DATE: April 21, 2021

ORDER

1. Entitlement to service connection for a psychiatric disorder to include depression and anxiety, is dismissed. 

2. Entitlement to a rating in excess of 20 percent for left carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is dismissed.

3. Entitlement to Special Monthly Compensation (SMC) based on a need for aid and attendance or on housebound status is dismissed.

FINDING OF FACT

On April 6, 2021, the Board was notified that the Veteran had died that month.

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 appellant is a Veteran who served on active duty from January 1951 to August 1952 and from March 1954 to November 1955.  These matters are before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a February 2016 rating decision.  In April 2019 and December 2020, the case was remanded for further development.

Following the December 2020 remand, the January 2021 rating decision granted service connection for hypertension.  Since this grant constituted a full grant of the benefits sought on appeal, this claim is no longer in appellate status.  AB v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 35, 39 (1993).

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.  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).

 

MATTHEW W. BLACKWELDER

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Attorney for the Board	H. Yoo, 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.