[Couples, aging and management of disabilities].

Four types of couples have been identified, based on the presence or not of a tacit contract between husband and wife and on their egalitarian or unegalitarian relationship. Each type is analyzed as concerns such items as the conduct of daily life, the negotiation process involved in it, the management of disabilities. Management of disabilities varies according to the above-mentioned typology. Therefore the relationship between husband and wife is extremely important in handling disabilities of the elderly people.