Elder abuse is a term not recognized under English law. There is currently no single piece of applicable protective legislation. In addressing elderly abuse in a legal context, therefore, lawyers must be creative and skillful in drawing on existing remedies from statute and common law and adapting these to individual complaints of elder abuse. Under existing law, three levels of intervention may be used in cases of elder abuse: preventive measures, private law initiatives, and state intervention. Preventive measures include the provision of appropriate services and residential and nursing home standards. Relevant private law includes contract law that provides some safeguards against abuse of a financial or property nature, use of the law of tort or civil wrongs, and domestic violence law. State intervention may be invoked under law that authorizes the compulsory removal of an individual from his/her home to a place of safety or law that applies to criminal acts that may be involved in abuse of the elderly. The Law Commission has published proposals for legal reform designed to address abuse of the elderly, drawing on the child protection model. The author raises questions about the suitability of this approach, given the social and legal differences between children and adults. 27 references