Why Life Insurance Is Important When You Remarry – Divorce can feel like an ending, but remarriage often brings a renewed sense of love and hope. As you consider this new chapter, life insurance is an essential part of financial planning for newlyweds.
Understanding why life insurance matters in a remarriage can help you protect your future together.
As you focus on planning your wedding and tackling your to-do list, don’t overlook the importance of updating or purchasing a life insurance policy.
Life insurance provides a financial safety net for remarrying couples, offering protection against unforeseen events such as the loss of a spouse.
It pays a death benefit that can be used for various financial needs, including college tuition, funeral expenses, debt repayment, and daily living costs.
This guide covers the key reasons why life insurance is vital for remarrying couples.”
Reasons Why Life Insurance Is Important When You Remarry
Marriage is the perfect time to begin your search for life insurance because it is a time when you start sharing your life, finances, and debt with the one you love. There are several reasons why life insurance is important when you remarry; these reasons include:
It Is Best To Purchase A Policy On Time
Planning your and your family’s future is a huge step to take. Most people often remarry before purchasing a house or having kids. Since these are not in the picture yet, it is the best time to begin a financial safety net against the future.
The earlier you purchase life insurance when you remarry, the more affordable coverage you will get. Life insurance premiums tend to get more expensive as it ages, which means you may not qualify for affordable rates if you wait longer.
Planning Against The Future
A solid financial future begins with a firm foundation. There are a lot of things to be considered while planning a financial future. These things include rent, school fees, retirement savings, and many more.
In cases like this, life insurance comes in handy. It is an affordable means to start planning for the future. Nothing is harder than the first step, but as time goes by, life insurance will help set your family financial stability.
Sharing Debts
After remarriage, you and your spouse begin to share debts, irrespective of type. Here, your family begins to work out ways to pay off these debts either through refinancing or consigning.
To avoid your dependent paying off these debts when you pass away, life insurance is important. Its death benefits can be used to pay off debts and make sure your dependents do not have to pass off these debts.
Life Insurance When You Remarry
When you remarry, you are likely to be in one of these two instances. Either you already have a life insurance policy, you need additional coverage, or you are planning to get a policy.
Life insurance is important when you remarry, but when you find yourself in any of these three cases, there are ways to get around them. The following explains these situations depending on which you are in:
Already Have Life Insurance
If you have already purchased life insurance, you do not need to purchase a new one when you remarry. Instead, consider the question “Who is the policy’s beneficiary?”. Your policy’s beneficiary may most likely be your ex-spouse and, if you have any, your children.
If you and your spouse have children together and they are still young, then it may be wise to leave your ex-spouse as the beneficiary until they are up to age (depending on your divorce proceedings).
However, if you have no reason to keep your ex-spouse as your beneficiary, ensure you update your policy beneficiary to your new spouse. Instead of indicating your beneficiary as “my spouse,” it is important to list specific names.
In cases where you fail to update your beneficiary, your death benefit will be received by your ex-spouse.
Need New Life Insurance
After you remarry, you may need an additional life insurance policy if you already have one. Consider whether or not you and your new spouse would like to have children together and if you have stepchildren.
If you do, then you may need additional coverage or new life insurance coverage and a longer insurance term to cover your dependents when you no longer can.
If you already have a policy, you may not need to cancel it in order to get a new policy. It is not prohibited to have more than one life insurance policy to cover a wider range of financial obligations.
You Have None
In cases where you do not have any existing policy, you will have to begin from scratch. You need to consider several factors as well as the best coverage for your entire family. The following are a few questions to ask when considering life insurance:
- What financial responsibility do you have that would remain even after you die?
- What income do you contribute to your family?
- If you have or are planning to have kids, how do you plan on paying their college fees?
- How many kids do you have, and what are their ages? (If you have any or are planning to have one.).
- How many more years are left for you to retire?
For most families, term life insurance is the best option. With the answers to the above questions, you can determine how much overage you and your family need, as well as how long it will last.