Citation Nr: 21024503
Decision Date: 04/22/21	Archive Date: 04/22/21

DOCKET NO. 16-00 381
DATE: April 22, 2021

ORDER

Entitlement to service connection for diabetes mellitus, to include as due to herbicide agent exposure, is dismissed.

Entitlement to service connection for a heart disability, to include as due to herbicide agent exposure, is dismissed.

Entitlement to service connection for a bilateral eye disability, to include as due to herbicide agent exposure, is dismissed.

Entitlement to service connection for edema of the abdomen, legs, and feet, to include as due to herbicide agent exposure, is dismissed.

Entitlement to service connection for a liver disability, to include as due to herbicide agent exposure, is dismissed.  

FINDING OF FACT

In April 2021, the Board was notified that the appellant died in April 2021.

CONCLUSION OF LAW

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

REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGAND CONCLUSION

The appellant served on active duty from May 1960 to August 1963.  The appellant died in April 2021.  

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 (Fed. Cir. 1996); Smith v. Brown, 10 Vet. App. 330 (1997); Landicho v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 42 (1994).  The appeals on the merits have 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 these appeals or to any derivative claims brought by a survivor of the Veteran.  38 C.F.R. § 20.1106.  

The Board’s dismissal of these appeals does not affect the right of an eligible person to file a request to be substituted as the appellant for purposes of processing the claims to completion.  Any 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 38 U.S.C. § 5121(a).  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).

Accordingly, the appeals are dismissed.  

 

 

Harvey P. Roberts

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Attorney for the Board	T.M. Gillett

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.