Life insurance and funeral cover both pay a benefit when an insured person dies, but they are designed to solve different financial problems.
Funeral cover is mainly intended to provide money quickly for funeral and related immediate expenses. Life insurance is generally designed to protect the people who depend on your income and can provide a much larger amount for longer-term needs such as housing, education, debt and everyday living expenses.
That means funeral cover should not automatically be treated as a replacement for life insurance.
You may need one, both or neither depending on who depends financially on you, the costs your family would face after your death and the protection you already have.
What is funeral cover?
Funeral cover is insurance designed specifically around the financial costs that arise when an insured person dies.
You pay a premium, usually monthly, and the insurer pays the agreed benefit after a valid death claim.
The money can help with costs such as:
- Funeral services
- Burial or cremation
- Transport
- Catering
- Coffin
- Family travel
- Other immediate funeral expenses
The FSCA and Prudential Authority’s overview of funeral insurance regulation defines funeral insurance around benefits intended to cover costs associated with a funeral or provide a funeral-related service after a death.
The focus is therefore immediate financial support following a death.
What is life insurance?
Life insurance provides a benefit when the insured person dies, subject to the policy terms.
The benefit can be much larger than ordinary funeral cover because it is designed to address broader financial consequences.
Your beneficiaries might use the money to:
- Replace lost household income
- Repay a home loan
- Settle other debt
- Cover children’s education
- Pay ordinary household expenses
- Build an emergency fund
- Provide long-term financial security
The purpose is not limited to paying for the funeral.
If a household loses someone earning R40,000 a month, the financial effect may continue for years after the burial.
Life insurance is designed to address that larger risk.
What is the main difference between life insurance and funeral cover?
The simplest distinction is:
Funeral cover helps pay for the funeral. Life insurance helps protect the financial life that continues after the funeral.
Imagine someone dies leaving:
- R35,000 of immediate funeral expenses
- A R900,000 home loan
- Two children
- A spouse who depended on their income
- R120,000 of other debt
A funeral policy could help with the immediate burial costs.
It would not necessarily provide enough money to replace years of lost income or settle a large mortgage.
A larger life policy could be structured around those longer-term needs.
Do both policies pay when you die?
Both can provide a death benefit, but their policy structures can differ substantially.
A funeral policy usually provides a relatively limited amount specifically linked to a death event.
Traditional life insurance can provide much larger levels of cover and usually involves more detailed underwriting.
The Association for Savings and Investment South Africa explains in its 2025 death-claims statistics that fully underwritten life insurance can provide cover worth millions of rand, while funeral insurance is subject to limits on the benefits it can provide.
That difference in potential cover is one of the reasons the application processes also tend to differ.
How much funeral cover can you get?
Funeral insurance is subject to regulatory limits in South Africa.
The regulatory framework requires the maximum benefit under the funeral class of insurance to be prescribed by the Prudential Authority and allows that amount to increase over time.
The FSCA and Prudential Authority’s funeral-insurance regulatory overview explains that the prescribed funeral-policy limit originated at R100,000 per life insured and escalates annually with inflation.
This is another important difference from ordinary life insurance, where cover can run into millions of rand depending on the insurer, underwriting and your financial circumstances.
Can life insurance pay millions of rand?
Yes.
Life insurers can offer much larger death benefits because traditional life insurance is intended to protect substantial financial obligations and future income.
The appropriate amount depends on factors such as:
- Your income
- Dependants
- Debt
- Home loan
- Children’s future expenses
- Existing assets
- Employer life cover
- Other insurance
A person earning R80,000 a month and supporting a family may require a very different level of cover from someone with no dependants and no debt.
The insurer may therefore assess your financial circumstances before offering a particular amount.
Why is funeral cover usually easier to obtain?
Funeral cover generally involves less medical underwriting.
You may be able to obtain it without:
- Blood tests
- Medical examinations
- Extensive medical reports
That makes funeral cover accessible to a broad range of consumers.
ASISA explains in its 2025 claims analysis that funeral policies typically do not require blood tests or medical examinations, while life insurance generally involves more risk screening.
The trade-off is that funeral policies often use waiting periods to manage the additional risk.
Why does life insurance ask so many health questions?
The insurer is assessing the likelihood that it may need to pay a claim.
Applications can ask about:
- Age
- Medical history
- Current health
- Medication
- Smoking
- Occupation
- Dangerous hobbies
- Family medical history
Depending on your circumstances and the amount of cover, the insurer may also request medical tests.
The information allows the insurer to decide:
- Whether to offer cover
- How much cover to offer
- What premium to charge
- Whether exclusions or special terms are required
More underwriting can feel inconvenient, but it enables insurers to offer much higher cover amounts.
What is a funeral-policy waiting period?
A waiting period is a period after the policy starts during which certain deaths may not yet qualify for the normal benefit.
Funeral policies commonly apply a waiting period to death from natural causes.
ASISA says funeral cover typically uses a six-month waiting period for natural deaths because the policies generally do not require the same medical underwriting used for traditional life insurance.
Accidental death may be treated differently depending on the particular policy.
Always check the actual terms before buying.
Do not assume every insurer uses exactly the same waiting period.
Why do funeral policies have waiting periods?
Without medical underwriting, an insurer has less information about the insured person’s current health.
A person who already knows they are seriously ill could otherwise buy cover immediately before an expected death.
Waiting periods help manage that risk.
They are therefore not simply arbitrary delays.
But they are extremely important for consumers because a policy can be active and premiums can be paid while a particular cause of death is still inside the waiting period.
Does life insurance also have waiting periods?
Traditional fully underwritten life insurance often works differently because the insurer evaluates health before accepting the risk.
However, life policies can still contain exclusions and other conditions.
For example, suicide exclusions are common during an initial period.
ASISA’s 2025 death-claims report identifies contractual exclusions, including suicide within an initial two-year period, among reasons some death claims were not paid.
The exact policy wording is what matters.
Which pays faster: life insurance or funeral cover?
Funeral policies are generally designed around quick payment because funeral expenses arise soon after death.
The beneficiary may need money immediately for transport, burial arrangements, catering and other costs.
ASISA describes funeral insurance as being designed to pay qualifying benefits quickly and with relatively little administrative complexity.
Life insurance claims can involve larger amounts and more extensive assessment, particularly where the insurer needs to confirm medical information or investigate circumstances surrounding the claim.
That does not mean every funeral claim is instant or every life claim is slow.
Both require a valid claim and the necessary evidence.
What documents are normally needed for a death claim?
Requirements vary, but insurers can ask for information such as:
- Death certificate
- Claim form
- Identity documents
- Beneficiary information
- Banking details
- Medical information
- Police documentation for certain accidental deaths
- Other supporting evidence
A larger or more complex claim can involve additional investigation.
The beneficiary should contact the insurer directly and follow the claims process specified by the policy.
Does funeral cover pay only for the policyholder?
Not necessarily. One of funeral cover’s major features is the ability to cover several family members under one arrangement.
Depending on the product, you might be able to cover:
- Yourself
- Spouse
- Children
- Parents
- Other qualifying relatives
This can make funeral cover useful for households where one person financially supports funeral arrangements for several relatives.
Life insurance is often structured more individually around the financial consequences of one particular person’s death.
Can you take funeral cover for your parents?
Many funeral products allow qualifying parents or extended family members to be covered.
This is one reason funeral insurance is widely used in South Africa.
If you know that you would personally be responsible for funeral costs when a parent dies, cover can reduce the risk of needing to find a large amount of cash immediately.
But check:
- Entry-age limits
- Premiums
- Waiting periods
- Cover amounts
- Who owns the policy
- Who receives the benefit
Premiums for older insured lives can be higher.
Can you take life insurance on someone else?
Insurance requires an appropriate insurable interest and must comply with the insurer’s requirements.
You cannot simply take out a large life policy on an unrelated stranger because you would like to receive money when they die.
Life insurance is built around legitimate financial relationships and the policy rules governing the insured life, policyholder and beneficiaries.
What is a beneficiary?
A beneficiary is the person or entity designated to receive the policy benefit when the insured event occurs, subject to the policy structure and applicable law.
Beneficiary nominations are important because your family needs to know:
- That the policy exists
- Which insurer holds it
- Who is nominated
- How to start a claim
Buying insurance but leaving nobody with information about it can create unnecessary difficulty after death.
Review your beneficiary nominations after major life events such as marriage, divorce, births and changes in financial dependants.
Can funeral cover replace life insurance if you have children?
Usually, they are solving different needs. Suppose you have two young children who depend on your salary.
Your death could create immediate funeral costs, but the larger financial problem may be losing years of:
- Food money
- Housing contributions
- School fees
- Medical aid
- Transport
- University funding
A funeral policy can help with the first few weeks.
Life insurance can be designed around the years that follow.
That distinction becomes particularly important for parents and primary household earners.
Do you need life insurance if nobody depends on you?
Possibly less than someone supporting a family.
Life insurance is most valuable when your death would create a meaningful financial problem for someone else.
If you are single, have no dependants and have enough assets to settle your obligations, a large life policy may be less important.
You may still want enough protection for:
- Debt
- Funeral costs
- A financially dependent parent
- Other specific obligations
Insurance should address an actual risk rather than simply exist because someone told you every adult needs the same amount of cover.
Do you need funeral cover if you already have life insurance?
Not necessarily, but funeral cover can still serve a practical purpose.
The question is whether your family will have enough accessible money quickly after your death.
If your life insurance provides a sufficiently rapid death benefit and your household has emergency savings, separate funeral cover may duplicate some protection.
If your family would struggle to fund the funeral while a larger life claim is being processed, funeral cover can fill that immediate gap.
Compare the full protection you already have before buying another policy.
Can you have both funeral cover and life insurance?
Yes. The policies can complement each other.
For example:
Funeral cover: R50,000 for immediate funeral expenses.
Life insurance: R2 million for longer-term financial protection.
The beneficiaries may use the funeral benefit for immediate costs while the larger life benefit supports debts, housing and future living expenses.
The appropriate amounts will vary from household to household.
Can you have more than one funeral policy?
A person can potentially be covered under multiple funeral arrangements, but buying several policies should not be done without understanding the costs and applicable benefit limits.
Multiple funeral policies have attracted regulatory attention in South Africa. A 2026 Long-Term Insurance Amendment Bill has been introduced in Parliament specifically to strengthen disclosure and consumer protections around people holding multiple funeral policies for the same beneficiaries.
The existence of several debit orders does not automatically mean you are getting proportionately better protection.
Check the combined premiums, benefits and limitations.
Is the 2026 funeral-policy amendment already law?
The proposal regarding stronger protections for multiple funeral policies is currently a bill, not something that should be presented as an enacted rule.
Parliament lists the Long-Term Insurance Amendment Bill B17-2026 as having been introduced in June 2026.
This distinction matters when reading insurance news.
A proposed law can change before it is eventually passed, or it may not become law at all.
Can you have more than one life insurance policy?
Yes. People sometimes hold life cover through:
- An employer
- A bank
- A personal insurer
- Another financial provider
The important issue is understanding the combined amount of protection and whether you still need every policy.
You should also know which cover disappears if you leave an employer.
What is group life insurance?
Group life insurance is cover provided to a group of people, commonly through an employer or retirement fund arrangement.
Your employee benefits might already include life cover equal to a multiple of salary.
For example, an employer could provide cover worth several times annual salary.
That can substantially reduce the amount of additional private life cover you need.
But check whether the cover continues if you:
- Resign
- Are retrenched
- Change employers
- Retire
Employer cover can be valuable while still being less portable than personally owned insurance.
How much life insurance do you need?
There is no universal number. Start with the financial gap your death would create.
Consider:
- Home loan
- Other debt
- Dependants
- Monthly household expenses
- Children’s education
- Existing investments
- Emergency savings
- Employer life cover
- Other income available to your family
Suppose your family needs R25,000 a month from your income and would need support for many years.
A R100,000 policy will not solve that problem simply because R100,000 sounds like a large amount.
Life-cover calculations need to reflect the scale and duration of the financial need.
Should your life insurance cover your home loan?
It can make sense if your household could not continue servicing the mortgage without your income.
Imagine your family loses both your salary and still has a R1.2 million outstanding home loan.
A sufficiently large life benefit could allow them to:
- Repay the loan
- Reduce it substantially
- Continue making repayments from invested proceeds
Whether full repayment is the best approach depends on the household’s wider finances.
The important point is to include major debt when calculating the financial impact of death.
Should life insurance replace your salary?
It can be structured partly around income replacement. You do not necessarily need to multiply your current salary by every remaining working year.
Your household’s needs may change over time, and invested insurance proceeds can potentially generate income.
A proper needs analysis considers:
- Current expenses
- Future expenses
- Existing assets
- Debt
- Dependants
- How long support is needed
The final cover amount should relate to the financial shortfall, not an arbitrary multiple.
Is funeral cover cheaper than life insurance?
The monthly premium may often be lower because funeral policies generally provide much smaller benefits.
But comparing only premiums is misleading.
For example:
- R150 per month for R40,000 funeral cover
- R500 per month for R2 million life cover
The life policy costs more each month, but it also protects a dramatically larger financial amount.
You need to compare what you are paying for, not simply which debit order is smaller.
What affects the cost of life insurance?
Premiums can depend on factors such as:
- Age
- Cover amount
- Health
- Smoking
- Occupation
- Lifestyle risks
- Policy structure
A young, healthy non-smoker can present a different risk from an older applicant with significant medical conditions.
The insurer may price those risks differently.
What affects the cost of funeral cover?
Funeral-cover premiums can depend on:
- Age
- Number of people covered
- Cover amount
- Relationship to the policyholder
- Product structure
Adding parents or extended family members can increase the premium.
Compare the cost per insured person and the benefit each person actually receives.
Does your premium stay the same forever?
Not necessarily. Insurance can have different premium structures.
Depending on the policy, premiums may:
- Stay level for a period
- Increase annually
- Increase as you age
- Change according to predetermined rules
A policy that looks inexpensive today may become significantly more expensive over 10 or 20 years.
Ask how the premium is expected to change before buying.
What happens if you stop paying?
The policy can lapse.
If cover lapses before the insured person dies, the insurer may no longer be responsible for a claim.
This is particularly important with policies that may have been paid for over many years.
ASISA identifies unpaid premiums and lapsed cover as important reasons some death-related insurance claims are not paid.
If a debit order fails, do not automatically assume the policy continues indefinitely.
Contact the insurer and establish its status.
Do you get your premiums back if you never claim?
Ordinary risk-only funeral and life policies are generally designed to pay when the insured event occurs, not operate as savings accounts.
You are paying for risk protection during the period in which the policy is active.
This is similar to car insurance.
You do not buy vehicle insurance because you hope to crash your car and recover your premiums.
You buy it because you want protection if the insured event occurs.
Some life-insurance products can contain investment or cash-value components, but that is a different product structure and needs to be evaluated separately.
Does funeral cover have a cash value?
Ordinary funeral insurance generally does not provide a savings balance that you can withdraw.
ASISA’s description of funeral products notes that benefits become payable following the insured death event and that these policies generally do not have a surrender or cash value in the way an investment product might.
If you want to build savings, use a product designed for saving or investing rather than expecting risk insurance to perform both jobs.
Why are claims sometimes rejected?
A death does not automatically mean every policy will pay.
Claims can fail because:
- The policy had lapsed
- The insured event occurred during an applicable waiting period
- An exclusion applied
- Material information was not disclosed
- Fraud was involved
- The claim did not meet the policy terms
Understanding those rules before buying is far better than leaving your family to discover them during a claim.
What is non-disclosure?
Non-disclosure means failing to provide important information the insurer asked for when assessing the risk.
This is particularly important with underwritten life insurance.
If the insurer asks whether you smoke and you intentionally say no when you do, that information could materially affect the premium and underwriting decision.
ASISA says material non-disclosure is one of the most common reasons fully underwritten life-insurance claims can be rejected, because the insurer relied on incorrect information when accepting the risk.
Answer application questions accurately.
Trying to obtain a cheaper premium by hiding information can undermine the protection your family is relying on.
Do life insurers actually pay most claims?
Yes, valid claims are overwhelmingly paid across ASISA member insurers.
In 2025, ASISA members processed more than 1.08 million death claims across individual life, credit life, funeral and universal life policies and paid 94.1%, representing R44.2 billion in benefits.
Claims against life policies had a 96% payout rate, while funeral policies recorded 93.2%, according to ASISA’s 2025 death-claims statistics.
The figures also show why policy terms still matter: waiting periods, fraud, non-disclosure and unpaid premiums can affect claims.
Why is the funeral-policy claim rate slightly lower?
Funeral cover generally involves much less medical underwriting.
Waiting periods therefore play a bigger role.
ASISA identified waiting periods, fraud and unpaid premiums as the main reasons funeral claims were declined in its 2025 analysis.
That does not mean funeral cover is unreliable.
It means you need to understand when the cover starts and keep the premiums up to date.
Can accidental death be treated differently?
Yes. Some funeral products provide immediate or earlier accidental-death cover while applying a waiting period to natural death.
A policy can therefore treat:
- Natural death
- Accidental death
- Suicide
differently.
Read the definitions rather than assuming that “death cover” means every possible cause of death is covered from the first day.
What is accidental death cover?
Accidental death insurance pays only when death results from a qualifying accident.
It is narrower than ordinary life insurance.
If someone dies from an illness such as cancer or heart disease, an accident-only policy may not pay.
That is why a very cheap accidental-death policy should not automatically be compared with comprehensive life insurance as though the protection were equivalent.
The lower premium can reflect a much narrower insured risk.
What is credit life insurance?
Credit life insurance is different from both ordinary life insurance and funeral cover.
It is connected to a particular debt.
If the borrower dies or experiences another qualifying insured event, the policy can settle or reduce the outstanding credit according to its terms.
This can apply to debt such as:
- Personal loans
- Vehicle finance
- Home loans
- Other credit agreements
The benefit generally follows the outstanding debt rather than providing a large unrestricted amount for the beneficiary.
Does credit life replace ordinary life insurance?
Usually not if someone depends financially on you. Paying off a R300,000 loan does not replace the salary your family has lost.
Credit life can solve the debt problem.
Funeral cover can solve the immediate funeral-cost problem.
Life insurance can solve the broader income and financial-security problem.
One household can therefore have all three for different reasons.
What happens if the insurer pays the funeral benefit in services?
Some funeral products can include services rather than only cash.
South African policyholder-protection rules provide mechanisms for funeral-policy benefits expressed as services to have an equivalent monetary value available in relevant circumstances.
The regulatory treatment of cash and service-based benefits is set out in the Policyholder Protection Rules applicable to funeral policies.
Check whether the product you are buying provides cash, services or a combination.
Should you buy insurance through a bank?
A bank can distribute insurance products, but the same comparison principles apply.
Check:
- Who the actual insurer is
- Cover amount
- Premium
- Waiting periods
- Exclusions
- Premium increases
- Beneficiaries
- Claims process
Do not assume that a familiar banking brand automatically means the policy offers the best value for your circumstances.
Should you buy insurance from a funeral parlour?
First establish exactly what you are buying and who underwrites it.
South African funeral-insurance business is regulated, and insurers conducting life insurance business need appropriate authorisation.
The FSCA and Prudential Authority’s funeral-insurance framework explains the licensing framework governing funeral insurance and the distinction between insurers and other funeral-related arrangements.
Do not assume that every funeral-service arrangement is the same as a regulated insurance policy.
How can you check whether an insurer is legitimate?
Before committing to long-term premiums, verify the company and the financial-services provider involved.
You should be able to establish:
- The insurer’s name
- Who underwrites the policy
- How to contact the insurer
- The claims process
- The policy number
- The actual terms and conditions
Be cautious if someone cannot clearly explain who is underwriting the risk.
Insurance should not depend on vague promises from an individual collecting cash.
What should you compare when choosing funeral cover?
Look beyond the advertised premium.
Compare:
| Feature | What to check |
|---|---|
| Cover amount | How much will actually be paid? |
| People covered | You, spouse, children, parents or extended family? |
| Waiting period | When does natural-death cover begin? |
| Premium | What do you pay now? |
| Premium increases | How can the cost change later? |
| Entry age | Can older family members qualify? |
| Exclusions | Which deaths are not covered? |
| Claims process | What will beneficiaries need? |
| Cash or services | What exactly does the beneficiary receive? |
The cheapest policy is not automatically the best if the protection is substantially weaker.
What should you compare when choosing life insurance?
For life insurance, consider:
- Amount of cover
- Premium
- Premium pattern
- Medical underwriting
- Exclusions
- Beneficiaries
- Additional benefits
- Claim requirements
- Expiry age
- Whether cover reduces over time
Most importantly, determine whether the amount is actually enough.
Buying R500,000 of life cover when your family has a R1.5 million home loan and relies heavily on your salary may create the appearance of protection without solving the real financial problem.
Should you choose the highest cover you can afford?
Not automatically. Insurance has an opportunity cost.
Money spent on excessive premiums cannot be used for:
- Emergency savings
- Investments
- Retirement
- Debt reduction
- Other household needs
The objective is not to buy the largest possible policy.
It is to transfer financial risks that your household could not comfortably absorb itself.
Should young people have life insurance?
Age alone does not determine whether you need life insurance.
Your financial responsibilities matter more.
A 25-year-old supporting two younger siblings and a parent may have a strong need for life insurance.
A 35-year-old with no dependants, no debt and substantial investments may have less need.
Ask:
Who would experience a serious financial loss if I died?
That question is more useful than asking whether everyone of a certain age should have life cover.
Should young people have funeral cover?
The same principle applies.
If your family would struggle to raise money quickly for your funeral, cover can solve a real problem.
If you already have enough accessible savings and appropriate life insurance, additional funeral cover may be less important.
The purpose is protection, not collecting as many policies as possible.
What if you financially support your parents?
Your insurance planning should reflect that responsibility.
If your income pays for a parent’s:
- Housing
- Food
- Medical costs
- Transport
your death could affect them financially even if you do not have children.
Life insurance can therefore be relevant whenever someone depends materially on your income, not only for married people with children.
What if both partners earn an income?
You may still need cover.
Ask what would happen to the surviving partner’s finances if one income disappeared.
Could the survivor comfortably pay:
- Bond
- School fees
- Childcare
- Food
- Transport
- Medical aid
- Other debt
on one income?
If not, life insurance may help close that gap.
Does a stay-at-home parent need life insurance?
Potentially. A person can create significant economic value without earning a salary.
If a stay-at-home parent dies, the surviving household may suddenly need to pay for:
- Childcare
- Transport
- Household assistance
- Other services
Insurance needs should therefore consider the financial cost of replacing someone’s contribution, not only their payslip.
Should you cancel funeral cover once you build savings?
Possibly, if your savings are large enough and accessible enough to cover the risk yourself.
Insurance transfers a financial risk to the insurer.
As your own assets grow, you may eventually become capable of carrying more of that risk personally.
But do not cancel an existing policy casually, especially if age or health would make obtaining new cover later difficult.
Review the consequences first.
Should you reduce life insurance as you become wealthier?
Your insurance needs can change.
When you are younger, you may have:
- Large debt
- Small investments
- Young children
- Many years of income still needed
Twenty years later, you may have:
- Smaller debt
- Larger investments
- Adult children
- Fewer remaining financial obligations
That can reduce the amount of life insurance needed.
Review cover periodically rather than assuming the policy purchased at 28 will still be ideal at 55.
When should you review your insurance?
A review makes sense after major financial changes such as:
- Marriage
- Divorce
- Birth of a child
- Buying a home
- Taking significant debt
- Salary increase
- New dependants
- Starting a business
- Changing employer benefits
Also check beneficiary nominations.
The right amount of insurance changes as your life changes.
Is funeral cover or life insurance more important?
There is no universal answer because they address different risks.
If the immediate concern is that your family cannot afford a funeral, funeral cover directly addresses that problem.
If your family depends on your income for the next 10 or 20 years, life insurance addresses a much larger financial risk.
For many households, the solution is not choosing one instead of the other.
It is using each type of insurance for the problem it was designed to solve.
What is the simplest way to decide?
Separate the financial consequences of death into two categories.
Immediate costs
These can include:
- Funeral
- Transport
- Burial
- Family travel
- Other urgent expenses
Funeral cover or accessible savings can address these.
Long-term costs
These can include:
- Lost income
- Home loan
- Education
- Household expenses
- Long-term support for dependants
Life insurance and existing assets can address these.
Once you separate the two needs, the difference between the products becomes much clearer.
Life insurance vs funeral cover: which one do you need?
Funeral cover is designed primarily for the immediate cost of death.
Life insurance is designed primarily for the wider financial consequences of death.
You may need funeral cover if your family would struggle to find cash quickly for funeral expenses.
You may need life insurance if your death would leave someone without enough income or assets to meet longer-term financial obligations.
You may need both when both problems exist.
The mistake is assuming that a R30,000, R50,000 or similar funeral benefit provides the same financial protection as a properly calculated life-insurance policy.
It does not.
A funeral can last a few days.
The financial effect of losing someone’s income can last for years.
