I'm sorry for your loss Jade what an awful position to find yourself in.
To the poster who indicated that it would be responsible to have life insurance when you have children, I have to be honest, I completely agree but perhaps it could be said more sensitively in the context of this thread or conversation. To those who responded with, 'what only have children if you are rich' I say that is an over-reaction.
My mum was a single mum, in one of the most deprived areas of the city I grew up in, but I knew about insurance from a young age, because it was paid every week to the man from the Co-operative. Because her parents had a policy its what she did when she had me; it wasn't the biggest maybe £2 a month back then but it was as important as the rent and TV licence. It just is a bill that cannot be ignored. My mum bought the bread when it wass cheap at the end of the night and crispy pancakes when they were on special offer. Some nights we had corned beef and beans for dinner. Now I realise that was probably the end of the week when the money was gone. Sadly it appears that many people, and not neccessarily all, make choices with regards spending priorities that many cannot understand. I know a (family member of mine) who is a single mum to four young kids and complains about not being able to afford this and that but can keep a dog and pay vet bills. Ultimately that is her choice to do so, and the dog is now a part of her family set up, but you can't be complaining about not being able to afford to pay for say -life insurance - if you chose to spend your money on something else. We all make our own choices and are responsible for them. Insurance is one of those things that we don't see the benefit off, and is, I believe, in the main way way too expensive anyway, but thats the sad thing, you leave those behind to sort out a mess when they are quite possibly at their most vulnerable and least able to make informed decisions. Having a bit of insurance to at least cover some, if not all of the costs, at least helps a bit. My own mum who is in her early 60s has no pension (except minimum state pension) because she couldn't afford to pay in when she was a single parent (to those who say it was only 5/10% of salary that was the difference between paying the rent or not) but she prioritised insurance over pension. Now I worry about whether I'll be financially supporting her when she is older and no longer able to earn. A very interesting debate and I certainly hope not to offend anyone, I can see so many viewpoints in it.