Life Insurance✓ Verified · outline & fact-checked · Sep 2026Difficulty 2/5
Two spouses purchase a joint life insurance policy designed to pay the death benefit when the FIRST of the two insureds dies. Upon payment of that benefit, the policy typically:
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Answer & full 3-part explanation (select an option above, or peek)
Why A is correct
A joint life (first-to-die) policy covers two or more insureds and pays the death benefit upon the first death, after which the policy terminates. It is often used where the surviving insured's need ends at the first death, such as funding a buy-sell or providing for a couple where one spouse's income ends. A survivorship (second-to-die) policy, by contrast, pays only when the second insured dies.
Why the other options are wrong
- B) The policy does not continue with reduced premiums; it terminates once the first-death benefit is paid.
- C) There is no automatic conversion to paid-up coverage for the survivor under a standard joint life policy.
- D) Paying a benefit on each death describes survivorship coverage combined with other coverage; first-to-die pays once.
Memory hook
Joint life = first death, first check, policy over. Survivorship = pays at the second death. One pays early, the other pays late.