LPA for Married Couples: Why Marriage Isn't Enough
The marriage myth
The most persistent misunderstanding in this whole subject: that being married gives you authority over each other's affairs if one of you is incapacitated. It does not. Not after ten years, not after fifty.
Marriage does not let you access your spouse's sole-name bank account. It does not let you make their medical decisions. It does not let you sell a house in their name, manage their pension, or sign anything on their behalf. Hospitals will consult you as next of kin. But consultation is being asked your opinion, not having the final say.
What that means in practice
Picture the standard hard cases, because they are exactly the ones that happen:
The frozen account. A husband has a stroke; the care fees need paying from his sole-name savings. Without an LPA the bank must refuse his wife access, and her only route is a Court of Protection deputyship: months of waiting and thousands in fees while the bills stack up.
The unsellable house. A wife with dementia jointly owns the family home, and it needs to be sold to fund her care. Without her LPA, her husband cannot complete the sale; the court process runs while the care fees erode exactly the money they were trying to protect.
The treatment disagreement. A husband in intensive care, a wife who knows what he would want, and doctors with a different view. Without a health and welfare LPA, the clinicians decide.
An LPA in place turns each of these from a legal crisis into paperwork: the registered document is shown, and the spouse acts.
The mirror arrangement
Most couples solve this symmetrically: each makes both types of LPA, usually appointing each other as first attorney and the children or another trusted person as replacements. Four documents in total, covering both people and both halves of life — money and care.
This used to be the expensive version of LPA planning. It is not any more. With our service, all four documents are free to make. The couple pays only the OPG registration fees — £92 per LPA, £368 for all four, less if either of you qualifies for a fee reduction. You answer the questions once, tick that your partner's documents mirror yours, and an estate planner checks the whole set with you on one call.
Worth deciding together
Two questions deserve an actual conversation over the kitchen table before you fill anything in. Who steps in if you cannot act for each other — the same replacement attorneys for both of you, or different? And what do you each want on life-sustaining treatment, which the health LPA asks you to decide? Couples are often surprised by each other's answers. Better to be surprised now.
The unromantic truth
You are each other's most likely attorney and each other's most likely reason for needing one. Sorting both sets of documents in one sitting is about as unromantic as booking an MOT, and it is one of the most practically caring things married people do for each other. Start yours together: free to make, checked by a person, and then it sits in a drawer for what we hope is a very long time.
Common questions
Does my husband or wife automatically have power of attorney?
No. Marriage gives no authority over a spouse’s sole-name accounts, property or medical decisions. Next-of-kin status means being consulted, not deciding. Only a registered LPA gives a spouse legal authority to act.
Can couples make their LPAs together?
Yes, and most do. Each person makes their own documents — typically both types each, appointing each other as first attorney with children or a trusted person as replacements. With myLPA all four documents are free to make; the OPG charges £92 per LPA to register, £368 for the set.
What happens to a joint account if one of us loses capacity?
The bank can restrict the whole account to protect the incapacitated holder, leaving the other spouse unable to use it normally. An LPA is what restores proper access, so relying on joint accounts alone is not a plan.
Ready to create your LPA?
Sort it calmly, while it’s straightforward. Both types of Lasting Power of Attorney, free to make, checked by a person before you sign.
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