what expenses couldn t be met if you died if your spouse has a high income and you don t have any children maybe it s not warranted it is still essential to consider the impact of your potential death on a spouse and consider how much financial support they would need to grieve without worrying about returning to work before they re ready however if both spouses income is necessary to maintain a desired lifestyle or meet financial commitments then both spouses may need separate life insurance coverage 
if you re buying a policy on another family member s life it s important to ask what are you trying to insure children and seniors really don t have any meaningful income to replace but burial expenses may need to be covered in the event of their death beyond burial expenses a parent may also want to protect their child s future insurability by purchasing a moderate sized policy while they are young doing so allows that parent to ensure that their child has a head start towards protecting their future family financially parents are typically only allowed to purchase life insurance for their children up to 25 of the in force policy on their own lives 