You may want to have your spouse or other responsible person access your account and pay your bills when you are deployed or otherwise unable to use the account yourself. There are two ways to do this: power of attorney or joint account.

The power of attorney allows another person to write checks, discuss your account with the bank, and even apply for credit. The person you designate has the power to act on your behalf but does not legally own the money in your account. Detailed information about PoAs is in the section on Estate Planning.

Setting up a joint account not only allows the other person to transact business, but it also gives equal ownership to the account. If the account is established "with right of survivorship" (as most banks do), the death of one person automatically allows the other person to inherit the money in the account without probate or a will.