Do I need an LPA if I am married?
Guidance from Estate Advisory Group
Written and legally reviewed by Ramani Gill TEP, Solicitor and private client practitioner·Last reviewed 13 August 2026
Yes. Being a spouse gives you no automatic legal authority over your partner's finances or medical treatment if they lose capacity — marriage and an LPA do two entirely different jobs.
The myth of automatic authority
Many married couples assume that, as next of kin, one spouse can simply step in and manage things if the other becomes unwell or loses capacity. This is one of the most persistent misunderstandings about the Mental Capacity Act 2005. A spouse has no automatic legal power to operate the other's sole bank account, sell property held in their name alone, or make medical decisions on their behalf. Marriage creates rights around inheritance, tax and next-of-kin status in a hospital waiting room — it does not create a decision-making power once capacity is lost.
What marriage does not give you
- Access to your spouse's sole bank accounts, pension or investments.
- The right to sell or remortgage a jointly owned home without their signature or agreement.
- The power to consent to or refuse their medical treatment, however close you are.
- Authority over their share of a business, or their sole trader accounts.
- Automatic recognition by the DWP, HMRC or a care provider as their representative.
Joint accounts are not the answer
Banks freeze joint accounts too
Many banks restrict a joint account once one holder loses capacity, precisely because that holder can no longer authorise anything, including ongoing joint decisions. A joint account is not a substitute for an LPA. See LPA and joint bank accounts.
A worked example
Alan and Diane have been married for thirty years and hold a joint current account, but Alan's pension and a small share portfolio are in his sole name. When Alan has a stroke and loses capacity to manage money, Diane can continue using the joint account day to day, but she cannot access his sole pension income or sell his shares to help cover their outgoings without applying to the Court of Protection for a deputyship — a process that typically takes months and costs several hundred pounds in court fees alone, on top of ongoing supervision fees. If Alan had made a financial LPA naming Diane as attorney, she could have stepped in immediately, at a fraction of the cost and without the court's involvement.
What couples usually do
Most married couples make two mirror sets of LPAs: each spouse appoints the other as first attorney on both the financial and health and welfare LPA, with an adult child or sibling named as a second attorney or replacement attorney in case both spouses are affected by the same event, such as a car accident. See LPA for husband and wife for how to structure this properly.
Cost of doing it properly, compared with not
| Route | Typical cost | Typical timescale |
|---|---|---|
| Two LPAs made in advance | £184 OPG fees (plus preparation cost if not self-completed) | A few weeks to register |
| Court of Protection deputyship after capacity is lost | Court fee plus annual supervision fee, often £1,000+ over time | Several months, sometimes longer |
Common questions
Does divorce affect an LPA?
Yes. A spouse attorney is automatically removed on divorce or dissolution of a civil partnership unless the LPA specifically says the appointment should continue, which can invalidate a joint appointment structure if not planned for.
What about unmarried partners?
The position is the same, and often worse in practice, because an unmarried partner may not even be recognised as next of kin by a hospital, making an LPA even more important.
Can I just add my spouse's name to my bank account instead?
That gives them day-to-day access to that one account while you have capacity, but it is not a substitute for an LPA — it does not cover other assets, and many banks restrict the account once one holder loses capacity.
If we hold everything jointly, do we still need LPAs?
Yes. Even fully joint finances rarely cover every asset, and welfare decisions — consenting to treatment, choosing a care home — are never covered by joint ownership at all.
Read next
Where this fits
This page is part of LPA basics. The pages below take it further.
- Make an LPA online
The whole journey end to end: questions, documents, signing and registration.
- Solicitor, GOV.UK or online?
An honest comparison, including when you genuinely should pay a solicitor.
Review and sources
Reviewed by Ramani Gill TEP, Solicitor and private client practitioner. Last reviewed 13 August 2026. We recheck fees, forms and Office of the Public Guardian guidance whenever they change — see our editorial policy.
Official sources
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Choose one LPA or both, then start online for £49 per LPA.
The Office of the Public Guardian charges a separate £92 to register each LPA.
This is general information about how Lasting Powers of Attorney work in England and Wales. It is not legal advice about your situation. What we do and do not do.
Published by Estate Advisory Group