From descendants to ascendants: the right of elderly people to food allowance and the joint and several liability of the relatives/De descendentes para ascendentes: o direito das pessoas idosas a alimentos e a responsabilidade solidaria dos familiares

The elderly people, if they age without the ability to provide for themselves, have the right to food allowance and can file a 'maintenance pending suit' against their descendants. The legal problem and objective of the study lies in the legitimacy of the defendant to answer it. This text presents, with the use of the deductive method and literature review, the possibility of having joint liability of the descendants of the elderly person, with the extent of food responsibility between the degrees of kinship, according to article 12 of the Statute for the Elderly People, literally and covering "foods per stirpes", with the recognition of grandchildren's food responsibility when their parents (son or daughter of the elderly person) have passed away, or even when the grandchildren have already received the inheritance of the deceased (father or mother of grandchildren, who is the son or daughter of the elderly person).