diff --git a/modules/common/chowdsp_core/Types/chowdsp_TypeTraits.h b/modules/common/chowdsp_core/Types/chowdsp_TypeTraits.h
index e362dc9a5..52299c14f 100644
--- a/modules/common/chowdsp_core/Types/chowdsp_TypeTraits.h
+++ b/modules/common/chowdsp_core/Types/chowdsp_TypeTraits.h
@@ -106,6 +106,18 @@ struct is_specialization_of<OuterType<TypeArgs...>, OuterType> final : std::true
 template <typename CompleteType, template <typename...> class OuterType>
 static constexpr bool is_specialization_of_v = is_specialization_of<CompleteType, OuterType>::value;
 
+template <typename T>
+struct is_complete_type
+{
+    template <typename U>
+    static auto test (U*) -> std::integral_constant<bool, sizeof (U) == sizeof (U)>;
+    static auto test (...) -> std::false_type;
+    static constexpr auto value = ! std::is_same_v<decltype (test (static_cast<T*> (nullptr))), std::false_type>;
+};
+
+template <typename T>
+static constexpr auto is_complete_type_v = is_complete_type<T>::value;
+
 /**
  * An empty struct intended to be used with std::conditional_t
  * to effectively "disable" some member of a struct/class.
diff --git a/modules/common/chowdsp_data_structures/Structures/chowdsp_LocalPointer.h b/modules/common/chowdsp_data_structures/Structures/chowdsp_LocalPointer.h
index a4167abc5..a39172667 100644
--- a/modules/common/chowdsp_data_structures/Structures/chowdsp_LocalPointer.h
+++ b/modules/common/chowdsp_data_structures/Structures/chowdsp_LocalPointer.h
@@ -4,6 +4,19 @@ namespace chowdsp
 {
 JUCE_BEGIN_IGNORE_WARNINGS_MSVC (4324) // structure was padded due to alignment specifier
 
+#ifndef DOXYGEN
+namespace local_pointer_detail
+{
+    template <typename T>
+    constexpr size_t get_alignment()
+    {
+        if constexpr (is_complete_type_v<T>)
+            return alignof (T);
+        return 8;
+    }
+} // namespace local_pointer_detail
+#endif
+
 /**
  * A generic "owning" pointer constructed using local storage.
  *
@@ -15,7 +28,7 @@ JUCE_BEGIN_IGNORE_WARNINGS_MSVC (4324) // structure was padded due to alignment
  * Make sure that no other type (e.g. std::unique_ptr) tries to take ownership
  * of the pointer being stored here, since that will result in a double-delete.
  */
-template <typename T, size_t MaxSize, size_t Alignment = 0>
+template <typename T, size_t MaxSize, size_t Alignment = local_pointer_detail::get_alignment<T>()>
 class LocalPointer
 {
 public:
@@ -40,6 +53,7 @@ class LocalPointer
         jassert (pointer == nullptr);
         jassert (other.pointer == nullptr);
         juce::ignoreUnused (other);
+        return *this;
     }
 
     /**
@@ -52,6 +66,8 @@ class LocalPointer
     C* emplace (Args&&... args)
     {
         static_assert (MaxSize >= sizeof (C), "Type is too large to fit into MaxSize bytes!");
+        static_assert (Alignment % alignof (C) == 0, "Type alignments are incompatible!");
+
         reset();
         pointer = new (data.data()) C (std::forward<Args> (args)...);
         return reinterpret_cast<C*> (pointer);
diff --git a/tests/common_tests/chowdsp_core_test/TypeTraitsTest.cpp b/tests/common_tests/chowdsp_core_test/TypeTraitsTest.cpp
index 3642b0670..08820a5c8 100644
--- a/tests/common_tests/chowdsp_core_test/TypeTraitsTest.cpp
+++ b/tests/common_tests/chowdsp_core_test/TypeTraitsTest.cpp
@@ -23,4 +23,11 @@ TEST_CASE ("Type Traits Test", "[common][types]")
     STATIC_REQUIRE (IsMapLike<std::unordered_map<int, int>>);
     STATIC_REQUIRE (IsMapLike<std::map<int, int>>);
     STATIC_REQUIRE_FALSE (IsMapLike<std::vector<int>>);
+
+    struct A
+    {
+    };
+    struct B;
+    STATIC_REQUIRE (chowdsp::is_complete_type_v<A>);
+    STATIC_REQUIRE_FALSE (chowdsp::is_complete_type_v<B>);
 }
diff --git a/tests/common_tests/chowdsp_data_structures_test/LocalPointerTest.cpp b/tests/common_tests/chowdsp_data_structures_test/LocalPointerTest.cpp
index 2e7f7d6a3..901291822 100644
--- a/tests/common_tests/chowdsp_data_structures_test/LocalPointerTest.cpp
+++ b/tests/common_tests/chowdsp_data_structures_test/LocalPointerTest.cpp
@@ -84,4 +84,29 @@ TEST_CASE ("Local Pointer Test", "[common][data-structures]")
         REQUIRE (ptr->xx == 45);
         REQUIRE (childPtr->yy == 46);
     }
+
+    JUCE_BEGIN_IGNORE_WARNINGS_MSVC (4324 4319)
+    static constexpr size_t testAlignment = 32;
+    SECTION ("Alignment Known")
+    {
+        struct alignas (testAlignment) Test
+        {
+        };
+        chowdsp::LocalPointer<Test, 64> ptr;
+        ptr.emplace();
+        const auto alignedPtr = juce::snapPointerToAlignment (ptr.get(), testAlignment);
+        REQUIRE (alignedPtr == ptr.get());
+    }
+
+    SECTION ("Alignment Forward Declared")
+    {
+        chowdsp::LocalPointer<struct Test, 64, testAlignment> ptr;
+        struct alignas (testAlignment) Test
+        {
+        };
+        ptr.emplace();
+        const auto alignedPtr = juce::snapPointerToAlignment (ptr.get(), testAlignment);
+        REQUIRE (alignedPtr == ptr.get());
+    }
+    JUCE_END_IGNORE_WARNINGS_MSVC
 }