Insurance broker / Insurance questions / Term life insurance

Do children need term life insurance?

In short

No, children do not need their own term life insurance, because nobody depends on their income. Children need protection through their parents: a term life policy (Risikolebensversicherung) on each parent for three to five times gross annual income, until the youngest is about 25. A non-smoking 30-year-old pays about EUR 8 to 15 a month for EUR 200,000 over 25 years.

Request a quote +49 3375 29 12 77

What it costs

What protecting your children through the parents costs, and what the alternatives for the child itself cost.

Example	Typical range
Parent, 30, non-smoker, office job, EUR 200,000, 25-year term	about EUR 8 to 15 a month
Parent, 35, smoker, manual job, EUR 500,000, 30-year term	about EUR 31 to 50 a month
Child disability insurance, EUR 1,000 lifelong pension plus EUR 24,000 lump sum	about EUR 275 a year
Child disability insurance, range of tested tariffs	about EUR 107 to 421 a year
Average funeral costs for comparison	around EUR 4,500

Term life premiums from publicly quoted tariff examples, 2026.

The child disability figures come from a 2020 test; some insurers have raised premiums considerably since, so treat them as a rough guide.

The premium in the worked example is a guide value from our quoting practice.

Your premium depends on age, health and term; we obtain the exact quote for you.

Worked example

Family with two children aged three and six

Both parents are 32. He earns EUR 50,000 gross a year, she works part time and earns EUR 25,000. The youngest child turns 25 in 22 years.

Him: five times gross annual income	EUR 250,000
Her: five times gross annual income, rounded up for childcare	EUR 150,000
Term for both	22 years
Premium for both together, non-smokers	guide value about EUR 20 to 35 a month
Policy on the children	none

For EUR 400,000 of cover in total, the family pays about as much a month as two cinema tickets. A policy on the children's lives would replace none of it.

Why your child does not need a policy

Term life insurance replaces money that is missing after a death. Losing a child is the worst thing that can happen to parents, but no income disappears that the family lives on. So there is nothing a large sum would need to replace.

German law also sets a limit. Under section 150 (3) of the Insurance Contract Act (VVG), a parent may insure the life of a child under seven without the child's consent only up to the cost of an ordinary funeral. Many insurers do not accept children as the insured person at all.

What children really need: protected parents

For children, the death of a parent is the biggest financial risk. One income is gone, or the other parent has to work less to look after the children. The orphan's pension (Waisenrente) from the German state pension covers only a small part, and if you have only paid in for a few years in Germany it is very low.

So insure both parents, not just the main earner. If the parent who does most of the childcare dies, childcare, help at home or reduced working hours cost real money. The sum has to cover that too. If grandparents live abroad and cannot step in, this matters even more.

Situation	Recommendation
Couple, one child under six	insure both, each about five times gross annual income
Couple, teenage children	about three times is often enough, term until the youngest is 25
Single parent	at least five times, plus a guardianship arrangement
Couple with a mortgage	add the loan to the sum or take a second policy with a decreasing sum
Children grown up and earning	usually no term life cover needed any more

Who receives the money

Name the other parent as beneficiary (Bezugsberechtigter), not your minor child directly. If a child receives the money, it is usually managed by the surviving parent, for separated parents possibly by your former partner, and the family court can become involved.

Unmarried couples should also look at inheritance tax: a partner who is not married to you has only a small tax-free allowance. Cross-over policies, where each partner insures the other's life as policyholder, can avoid this. Get legal or tax advice on your own case.

When it is about the child itself

Parents who want to protect their child often think of the wrong case. A serious illness or disability is far more likely than a death and changes the life of the whole family. Child disability insurance pays a lifelong pension after an accident or an illness.

Pure child accident insurance is cheaper but covers accidents only. For funeral costs, a small cushion in a savings account is usually enough.

When you do not need term life insurance

If your savings would cover the children until they finish their education and pay off your loans, you do not need it. Once the children are adults and earn their own money, the reason is gone and you can let the policy run out or cancel it.

Step by step

Work out who contributes how much to family income and childcare.
Set a sum for each parent: three to five times gross annual income plus open loans.
Choose a term that ends when the youngest child is about 25.
Answer the health questions in full and compare quotes with the same sum and term.
Name the other parent as beneficiary; as a single parent, decide who manages the money.
Look at child disability insurance for the child while it is healthy.

Checklist

Both parents insured, not just the main earner
Sum at least three times, with small children five times gross annual income
Term until the youngest child is about 25
Open loans included in the sum
Beneficiary fits your family situation
No life policy taken out on the child itself

Common mistakes

Insuring the child's life instead of the parents' lives
Insuring only the main earner and forgetting the cost of childcare
Naming a minor child directly as beneficiary without arranging who manages the money
Relying on the German orphan's pension after only a few years of contributions
Putting off child disability insurance until a diagnosis makes it impossible

Questions and answers

Frequently asked

Can I take out term life insurance on my child?

Many insurers do not offer it, and for children under seven the law limits the sum without consent to ordinary funeral costs. It makes little sense anyway.

How much cover do we need with children?

As a guide three to five times gross annual income, closer to five with small children, plus open loans.

How long should the term be?

Until the youngest child is about 25 and has finished education or training. For a newborn that means 20 to 25 years.

Should my child be the beneficiary?

Usually the other parent is the better choice. If a minor receives the money, someone has to manage it, and that may not be the person you would choose.

Does the policy still pay if we move back to our home country?

Term life cover from a German insurer usually applies worldwide. Check the conditions and keep paying the premium from abroad.

What matters more, term life or child disability cover?

They cover two different cases. Term life on the parents protects the children from money problems, child disability cover protects the child after serious illness or disability. Both can make sense.

Sources

NAMMERT insurance broker

Request a quote: Term life insurance

We compare insurers and come back to you, in English. Free; the insurer pays our fee.

1Who is it for?

Personal My company

2Which insurance?

Choose as many as you like. For each one, the details an insurer needs for a quote appear below.

Personal

Business

Please review all my existing policies

3Details

Term life insurance (Risikolebensversicherung)

Year of birth of the person to be insured * Sum insured in euros * Term in years * Smoked in the last twelve months? * What is the cover for? * How many people should be insured? * Any medical treatment or diagnosis in the last five years, in Germany or abroad? * We discuss details with you personally

4Your current policy

Current insurer Policy ends on What matters more to you?

5How can we reach you?

Name * Email * Phone Postcode Town Preferred contact Anything else we should know