Life Insurance✓ Verified · outline & fact-checked · Sep 2026Difficulty 3/5
A policy that insures two lives and pays the death benefit only after the second insured dies is known as a:
Select an option to reveal the answer and the full 3-part explanation — free, no signup.
Answer & full 3-part explanation (select an option above, or peek)
Why A is correct
A survivorship, or last-survivor, policy insures two lives (typically a husband and wife) under one contract and pays the face amount only when the second of the two insureds dies. Because two deaths must occur before the benefit is payable, the premium is generally lower than the combined cost of two individual policies, and the product is widely used in estate planning to fund estate taxes or provide liquidity at the surviving spouse's death. It is the opposite of a joint-life policy, which pays on the first death of the insureds.
Why the other options are wrong
- B) A joint life policy pays the benefit on the first death; survivorship pays on the second death, so the two are opposite designs.
- C) A family maintenance policy provides income for a set period to the family on the breadwinner's death, not two-life second-death coverage.
- D) A return-of-premium policy refunds premiums to the owner, not a two-life death benefit structure.
Memory hook
Survivorship = second to fall triggers the payout. Two lives insured, one benefit at the final goodbye.