Court decisions are typically seen as one-off interventions relating to an incident in a person's life, but a legal decision can impact on the person as they were and the person they will become. This book is the first to explore the interactions of the law with the life course in order to understand the complex life journey as a whole. Jonathan Herring reveals how the law privileges 'middle age' to the detriment of the whole life story and explains why an understanding of the life course is important for lawyers. Relevant to those working in family law, elder law, medical law and ethics, jurisprudence, gender and the law, it will promote new thinking by exploring the engagement of the law with the life course of the self.