Life Insurance Advice

[BECCAH26]

My son's father and I are no longer together and we weren't married. I now rent a property and have little to no assets, but know I should get life insurance. I have no idea where to start with it so any advice would be great thank you. I am aware that I should have a policy now I am a mother, but after the breakup and covid my finances didnt stretch to anything above vitals.

Should I also take out life insurance against my ex partner? If something happened to him I would not be able to afford all my bills without his child maintenance payment.

I looked into this when I divorced, and was told I couldnt insure another person's life, as of course at that time we were not connected due to the divorce. Apologies it was several years ago and i cant remember the reasons why. I spoke to an IFA (insurance broker) and my solicitor. Like you I was concerned about death of the child's father and impact to maintenance.

When I divorced in 1989 I was able to take out an insurance policy on my ex that would replace maintenance for our children if he died before the youngest was 18

When my now husband divorced from his first wife it was specified in the consent order that the ex wife had to cancel the HUGE life insurance she had taken out on him. I don't know though if that order being made was partly down to that fact she had been found guilty of physical abuse towards him in the fact finding?

It’s possible, though you’ll need to need to prove insurable interest, which shows that you rely on your ex financially (and child maintenance alone doesn’t always meet that threshold), and your ex will need to agree to you taking out the policy and will need to confirm that the details you’ve provided about their background and health etc are correct. Alternatively, in cases where children are involved, one former spouse often chooses to make their ex the beneficiary or part-beneficiary of their own life policy.

For your own policy, use something like Moneysupermarket to get quotes for yourself and then choose the one which suits your personal circumstances; or, speak with a broker (often your own bank will provide this service) who can talk you through policy requirements and whether you’d also want to include critical illness cover.

Do check first though that you don’t have death in service benefit through your employer, which would save you needing life insurance.