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NurseMoneySaver1122

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dunstonh

I’ve been doing some reading and think level term policy might be best. On MSE site, he talks about writing your policy ‘in trust’ so it’s not considered part of your estate and now my mind is even more frazzled!

Writing it in trust can be beneficial but not always necessary.   A joint life policy with both of you as policyowners would pay to the surviving partner.     On second death, you would expect it to go to the child but inheritance tax is only an issue if your total combined assets are over £650,000.     If it is under, then the trust is unnecessary. 

Any advice on where to start with choosing a policy provider??

Life assurance is fairly easy as there is very little difference between the providers.   It is only if you start bolting on extras like critical illness cover, that it becomes more complicated in the selection.

And how long should we consider taking it over?…until our little one leaves school? Until the ‘future’ mortgage may be payed off? Until my partners ‘old age’? 

You dont have a mortgage yet. So, you can disregard that.  You will buy life assurance to cover the mortgage when the time is due and for the period that is required for the mortgage.    This is about family protection.    People have different views on age but typically around age 25 for the youngest.  Although if only one of you is working and is financially dependent on the other, you may consider taking it through to retirement.

It used to be considered that 21 was a sensible age but children tend to stay financial dependents longer than they used to.

I know advice is try to avoid taking our a new policy in future as the older you are, the more expensive it gets. So I know we need to somewhat plan for future changes.

Life assurance is cheap and it doesn't really start going up faster until your mid 30s to early 40s.    So, whilst getting family protection now is important, don't worry about the delay for the mortgage protection.