Just Married? Have You Had the Life Insurance Talk Yet?

Getting married is the start of an exciting new life together. Often, this life comes with shared financial commitments, such as a joint bank account or a mortgage on a shared home.

When couples combine their lives and finances, it becomes important to have a discussion about life insurance. Here's why.

Married couples need to make sure they have the right life insurance in place

The reality is, when people get married, they are forming a financial partnership as well as a romantic one.

Married couples inevitably will have at least some joint financial commitments even if they try to keep their bank accounts separate. For example, a couple might buy a home together and determine if it is affordable based on their combined income. Or, they might have a child together which the Brookings Institute estimates will come at a cost of $310,000 from birth until age 17.

When a couple begins to build a life together and they make commitments and establish a standard of living based on their combined household income, the death of either spouse could have devastating monetary consequences. Without the right plans in place, it could lead to a drastic decline in quality of life, as well as dire consequences like foreclosure. When dealing with the grief of losing a spouse, these financial worries are the last thing a surviving widow(er) needs to cope with.

Life insurance can help ensure that an untimely death does not result in financial devastation. It can provide a death benefit that will replace the deceased person's income, help support shared children, and help to pay off the couple's joint debts.

Life insurance is even important in situations where only one spouse works, as the non-working spouse likely contributes services to the household (such as childcare) which would have to be paid for upon their death.

Married couples need to talk about this issue, discuss how much life insurance would be needed in the event of either person's death, and make a concrete plan to get covered ASAP before something tragic happens -- even if that tragedy is just one spouse developing a pre-existing condition that prevents them from getting insured later.

How to talk to a spouse about life insurance coverage

Talking about life insurance probably is not a fun thing to do as a newly married couple. But it should be part of the conversation when newlyweds begin to think about their future.

Ideally, when a couple gets married, they'll have a broad discussion about how they will manage finances and work toward shared financial goals. A life insurance discussion should be part of that talk.

For those unsure how to start, it's best to set aside dedicated time to bring up key financial issues. Each partner can come with a list of financial issues to address and couples can work through these issues over time -- including the issue of how much life insurance to buy. The discussion can be focused on how a surviving spouse could maintain the couple's shared commitments and move forward financially.

By bringing up the issue of life insurance, couples can make sure to get plans in place while they can still do so affordably so both parties have the peace of mind of knowing their partner would be financially stable should the worst occur.