Resolving how much you will receive in alimony may give you great relief. You might feel that your spouse will give you enough in support that should sustain your needs going forward. However, your alimony amount may not matter if your spouse were to die within a few years after your divorce is complete.
The abrupt end of your alimony could put you in a dire financial situation. If you are a custodial parent, the loss of alimony can be even worse since you may lack money to care for a child. Marketwatch explains that individuals with ex-spouses that may not live long should consider taking out a life insurance policy on their former spouse.
Health or age concerns
If your spouse is young, you probably do not have to worry about your spouse dying for a long time, which means you will likely receive alimony for a prolonged period of time. By contrast, if you have a spouse who is older in years or in declining health, you might not receive alimony for very long before the death of your spouse.
These possibilities are why you may consider taking out a life insurance policy as part of your divorce settlement. It might be wise to do so no matter if your spouse is old or young. Even if your spouse is young and healthy, a sudden illness or a car accident following your divorce could severely injure your ex or cause your former spouse to die.
Owning the policy
If your divorce settlement includes a requirement for life insurance, you may go further and ask that you own the policy as well. This allows you tighter control over the policy and permits you to pay the policy premiums. You will not have to worry about your former spouse keeping up payments and possibly endangering the policy by not continuing to pay the premiums.
