16-09 125

• Court: Board of Veterans' Appeals
• Decided: July 24, 2018
• Docket: 16-09 125
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

Citation Nr: 1829737 Decision Date: 07/24/18 Archive Date: 08/02/18

DOCKET NO. 16-09 125 ) DATE ) )

On appeal from the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Los Angeles, California

THE ISSUES

1. Entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss.

2. Entitlement to service connection for tinnitus.

REPRESENTATION

Appellant represented by: Marc Whitehead, Attorney

ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD

C. Banks, Associate Counsel

INTRODUCTION

The Veteran served on active duty from November 1952 to September 1954.

This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from an April 2014 rating decision issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

FINDING OF FACT

On August 16, 2017 the Board was notified by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office, St. Paul, Minnesota, that the appellant died in May 2017.

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

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. 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 (listed on the first page of this decision). 38 C.F.R. § 3.1010(b).

ORDER

The appeal is dismissed.

A. C. MACKENZIE Veterans Law Judge, Board of Veterans' Appeals

Department of Veterans Affairs