Court Opinion

ID: 2898265
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2015-09-08 22:00:25.644826+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T11:35:20.400907
License: Public Domain

Citation Nr: 1532766	
Decision Date: 07/31/15    Archive Date: 08/05/15

DOCKET NO.  05-10 384	)	DATE
	)
	)

On appeal from the
Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Montgomery, Alabama

THE ISSUE

Entitlement to service connection a chronic lung disability, claimed as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, to include as secondary to service connected sinusitis.

REPRESENTATION

Appellant represented by:	Kathy A. Lieberman, Attorney

WITNESS AT HEARING ON APPEAL

Appellant

ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD

Scott Shoreman, Counsel
INTRODUCTION

The Veteran had active service from March 1975 to July 1979 and from March 1981 to March 1984.

This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) from a July 2007  rating decision of the above Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO).

The Veteran testified before a Veterans Law Judge at a videoconference hearing in December 2009.  A transcript is of record.

This claim was previously before the Board in November 2010, at which time the Board remanded it for additional development.  In a March 2012 decision, the Board denied the claim.  The Veteran subsequently appealed the decision to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court).  While that case was pending at the Court, the Veteran's attorney and the VA Office of the General Counsel filed a joint motion to vacate the Board's decision and remand the Veteran's claim for readjudication.  In an October 2012 Order, the Court granted the motion, vacated the Board's March 2012 decision, and remanded this case to the Board for readjudication.  In April 2013, the Board remanded the claim for additional development.

FINDINGS OF FACT

The Veteran died on May [redacted], 2015, during the course of his appeal to the Board.

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.A. § 7104(a) (West 2014); 38 C.F.R. § 20.1302 (2014); but see 38 U.S.C.A. § 5121A (West 2014); 79 Fed. Reg. 52,977 (Sept. 5, 2014) (to be codified at 38 C.F.R. pts. 3, 14, and 20). 

REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS 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.A. § 7104(a) (West 2014); 79 Fed. Reg. 52,977, 52,984 (Sept. 5, 2014) (to be codified at 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.  79 Fed. Reg. 52,977, 52,984 (Sept. 5, 2014) (to be codified at 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.A. § 5121A (West 2014); 79 Fed. Reg. 52,977, 52,982 (Sept. 5, 2014) (to be codified at 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.A. § 5121A (West 2014); see 79 Fed. Reg. 52,977, 52,982 (Sept. 5, 2014) (to be codified at 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).  79 Fed. Reg. 52,977, 52,982 (Sept. 5, 2014) (to be codified at 38 C.F.R. § 3.1010(b)).

ORDER

The appeal is dismissed.

____________________________________________
MICHAEL E. KILCOYNE
Veterans Law Judge, Board of Veterans' Appeals

Department of Veterans Affairs