"We have a child who'll depend on us for life." This is where term alone can leave a gap.
When a dependent will need support for their whole life, the need never expires — so a 30-year term can run out while the need continues. This is one of the clearest cases for permanent coverage, ideally reviewed alongside a special needs planning attorney.
Not every need has an end date. When a family has a child with a disability — or any dependent who will rely on them for life — the usual "cover the income years and the mortgage, then you're done" logic doesn't fully apply. The care doesn't stop when the mortgage is paid off.
I've sat with families in Central Florida wrestling with exactly this. Here's how I think about it with them.
Why a 30-year term can leave a gap
Say the parents are 40 and buy a 30-year term. It expires at 70 — right around when they're most likely to pass, and when their dependent still needs support. Renewing term at that age is expensive or unavailable, and health has usually changed. The protection ran out before the need did. That gap is the whole problem.
What permanent coverage solves here
Permanent life insurance is designed to last a lifetime, so the death benefit is there whenever it's needed rather than expiring on a schedule. For a lifelong dependent, that permanence is the entire point. It's one of the situations where paying more for coverage that never expires genuinely earns its cost.
The piece most agents miss: where the money lands
This is the part I won't let a family skip. Leaving a death benefit directly to a dependent who receives needs-based government benefits can accidentally disqualify them from those benefits. The usual answer is a properly drafted special needs trust as the beneficiary — but that's a legal document, and I'm an insurance agent, not an attorney. I'll coordinate with a special needs planning attorney so the policy and the trust actually work together. Getting the insurance right but the beneficiary wrong can undo the whole plan.
What I'd actually suggest here
Usually a permanent policy sized to the lifetime need, with the beneficiary structured through a special needs trust drafted by a qualified attorney. Sometimes we pair a smaller permanent policy with term to cover the heavier early years affordably. And we read the guaranteed column of any permanent illustration first, because this coverage has to be there decades from now — not just look good on today's assumptions.
This is careful, coordinated work. It's also exactly the kind of situation where getting it right matters most.