Abstract

Legal services are especially vital to the elderly, who perhaps more than any other group rely upon complex public and private institutions for their daily subsistence. Yet, in many important spheres the nation's elderly lack adequate legal representation and consequently cannot gain access to the legal system. The elderly only comprise approximately 6 percent of the client load of the average legal aid office, although over 20 percent of the nation's poor are elderly.

The legal problems of the aged frequently derive from the policies and actions of governmental agencies and private corporations, both of which often present undecipherable bureaucratic mazes which even younger beneficiaries find difficult to negotiate. Many of the elderly were at one time a part of the mainstream of middle America and became poor only when forced, at age 65, to live on fixed incomes which have been constantly eroded by inflation. Thus, these individuals have not learned to "work the system" as have many younger people forced, almost from birth, to live under governmental programs and in large bureaucracies. The crucial point is that many of these people may be the  least able to deal with issues of a legal nature. Although they are confronted with a complex of legal questions, bureaucracies, and forms, they have no real place to turn for adequate and effective assistance.

Efforts are presently being made to change this situation. This Article explores the nature and scope of these efforts while considering alternative courses of action which can be adopted to expand the availability of legal services for the aged. Existing resources can provide the foundation and stimulus for a system of legal services which approaches adequacy in meeting the needs of old people. What is required is that these resources be intelligently and systematically developed.

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