There is a very logical approach when answering the question whether you should insure your child or not. If your kid is the major income earner in the family, like being a child celebrity, the answer is, resounding yes. However, for typical families with children that spend more of the household money than they earn (if any), a separate life insurance policy is not really necessary unless your intent is to protect your child’s ability to take on life insurance in the future. If you fear that genetically there is a probability that your child’s medical condition may become an issue in the future, purchasing a life insurance policy at present will protect their ability to buy one in the future.

Additional reason for buying life insurance for your child is it can serve as an investment option or savings and provide a decent financial foundation for your child to build on in the future. Reality is: the younger the child is the lower the cost and the insurance policy has more time to rise in cash value

However, if that is not your intent and you are interested mainly about expenses in the unlucky event that something happens to your child and you are put in the dreadful position of having to pay the cost of funeral and burial expenses, you might elect to leverage a child insurance rider under your own life insurance policy.

A lot of insurance companies offer riders for usually a maximum of $20,000 on all covered children. The child’s coverage begins from 15 days old to usually 18 years. Coverage stays on until the child reaches the age of 21. Typically, this age varies depending upon the insurance carrier or when the insured reaches the age of 65, whichever comes first. The design of this rider is to cover the cost of funeral and burial. The rider offers a minor amount of term insurance with relatively little underwriting.

A fully underwritten life policy will result in lower premiums. However the nominal policy limit may be as much as $50,000. Whether this amount is truly needed, is really up to your personal taste as a parent.