When Graham & Mary got divorced their two children lived with Mary, and Graham paid regular maintenance, an arrangement they were both happy with. But a couple of years on, when Graham married Lily and they bought a house together, Mary started to worry, and so did Lily – Mary was concerned that, if Graham died, the maintenance would stop and she’d have to claim against his estate. And that’s exactly what was worrying Lily too – they were settling into the new home and were starting to plan a family and Lily didn’t want Graham’s ex-wife claiming a chunk of it. She wanted Graham to write his Will to ensure that she didn’t lose what she had built together with him, but basically there wasn’t enough money to go round.

The solution was using a life insurance policy to create the money. In fact we split it into two separate policies – both on Graham’s life – one for each family. And because Graham wanted to make sure that the money for his children went to them and not to Mary’s new partner we arranged a small trust to go with each policy which ensured the money went exactly where it was meant to. Each trust was flexible enough to be changed if his circumstances changed in the future. Every case is different of course but that’s what worked for Mary, for Graham and for Lily.

Peter’s a well-paid hospital doctor and, at the end of a meeting to discuss their insurance requirements, his wife Kate began talking about a problem that was worrying her. I had just got them to revise their wills, which had started her thinking about what would happen to their sons if she died unexpectedly. Peter might be a well-respected doctor at work but at home, Kate said, he was a liability. He couldn’t cook, didn’t know how to use the washing machine, was a very expensive shopper and really had no idea how to look after himself, let alone the boys. “If I died tomorrow”, Kate said, “he’d have to remarry pretty sharpish – and I don’t mind, honestly, I think it’s the best thing he could do. But what if his new wife didn’t really care about the boys welfare and just loved expensive shopping?” She was really quite worried at the thought. The solution was Peter took out a life policy on her life with the proceeds going to their two boys. I know this sounds unusual but for Kate it was the perfect solution.

Actually stuntmen are relatively easy to insure because they are pretty fit and very, very careful. Usually their managers insure them but in Leo’s case it wasn’t his manager that wanted to take out the policy – it was his lawyer. Leo’s speciality was horse riding stunts and, wherever he was working, he’d be surrounded by eager fans. In the course of his career he’d had three children by three different women in different parts of the country. His lawyer said it was a nightmare trying to arrange his will in a way that was fair for all the kids, so he simply got Leo to take out a life policy in a trust which each of his children could claim on! I’ve only arranged one of these policies in 30 years but, in principle, it could work well for quite a few people I know but I’ve never had the nerve to suggest it!

Death and serious illness can cause very serious financial problems as well as the obvious emotional ones. A life insurance policy is a safety net (made of money) designed to catch people’s loved ones when the unexpected happens.

By regularly putting aside a little now you can create a large lump sum of money which pays in the future (in the event of a serious illness or your death.) It’s insurance to cover a possible risk. Knowing your loved ones are well cared for, whatever else happens, is what it’s all about.

You take advice from an experienced adviser and, between you, you choose a suitable policy that works for you. Then you decide how to split this lump sum and your other assets, between partners & children, and set up a trust to ensure your wishes are followed.

Discussions with previous partners and sometimes also the children can, on occasion, be less than enjoyable. That’s where an experienced adviser is so helpful because they give you an outside view.