ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at how older people understand their family and intimate lives. It seeks to explore what kind of issues is important to them and what role, if any, family law might play. The chapter first looks at the nature of identity in old age and what the experience of old age tells us about personal identity and hence the values that should underpin family law. Second, it explores the role of relationships in old age, which reveals aspects of relationships which tend to get overlooked in family law writing. Third, the chapter discusses issues around sex and sexiness in old age. It highlights that the popular image of the 'older self' disguising its identity behind a 'youthful mask' provides too individualised an understanding of the self and fails to appreciate the way that relationships with other constitute the self.
