Medico-legal services are services that involve the application of medical knowledge to legal matters, such as personal injury, medical negligence, disability assessment, forensic medicine, etc. Life expectancy determination is the process of estimating how long a person is likely to live based on various factors, such as age, gender, health status, lifestyle, etc. Life expectancy determination can be used for various purposes, such as calculating compensation for future loss of income or medical expenses, planning for retirement or estate, evaluating insurance or pension benefits, etc.

One of the key issues in medico-legal claims is the estimation of life expectancy for persons who suffer from severe disabilities or impairments due to medical negligence or malpractice. This can have a significant impact on the amount of compensation awarded by the courts or agreed upon by the parties. Different experts may use different approaches or databases, leading to different results and disputes. The SALRC recommends that more research and collaboration be done to develop reliable and consistent methods and sources of data for life expectancy determination in South Africa.