Continuing in our series of questions linked to Financial Planning, this quarter’s question concerns life insurance.

Answer: Life insurance is a pretty gloomy subject. But, nevertheless, it's one you need to tackle head on.

Many people will have bought life insurance at the same time as buying a home. The two often go hand-in-hand. But that's usually where it stops. True, it's vital to ensure your mortgage can be paid off if the worst happens. But protecting a mortgage isn't the only reason to buy life insurance.

Here's a rundown of key circumstances where you should consider taking out life insurance:

• You get married or enter into a civil partnership - Once you tie the knot, your spouse or civil partner will probably rely on some of your income to pay the mortgage, cover household expenses and so on. And the chances are you will depend on them too. That means you'll need enough life insurance to cover the cost of their contribution - and your own - to the home. Of course, the same applies if you have set up home with your partner but you aren't married.

• You take on other debts - Your mortgage is probably your largest debt but remember to add enough life cover to pay off outstanding debts such as personal loans and credit card balances. Leaving behind debts for your family to deal with is far from ideal.

• You start a family or adopt a child - There's no doubt children are expensive. A 2006 survey revealed the costs of bringing up a child runs to almost £123,000 over 18 years. That's a huge expense if one parent's income is lost. And if you have more children, remember to top up the amount of cover you have accordingly.

• You're a stay-at-home parent - It's not only the main wage earner who needs life cover. The cost of replacing the work stay-at-home mums and dads do is far greater than you might think. In fact, a recent survey estimated it costs the equivalent of more than £24,000 each year to look after children and run the home. That's not far off the average UK salary, so bear it in mind when you decide how much cover you need to adequately protect your family.

• Your profit increases - If your household income increases significantly, your standard of living will probably step up too. So make sure you have enough life insurance to support your family's new lifestyle. For example, if you have begun putting your children through private education, you'll need to factor in the expense of school fees when you calculate how much cover you need.

• You buy a new property or you increase your mortgage loan - Many may already be in the habit of putting life insurance on their shopping list when they buy their first home. But what about increasing cover when you move to a larger property later on? A shortfall in cover could be a costly mistake.

• You have death in service with your employer - Many employees have death in service as part of the benefits package provided by their employer. Death in service normally provides a cash lump sum of say, three or four times your annual salary. You might think you don't need any more cover than that.

But let's say you earn £30,000 a year. Your death in service benefits might provide life cover of £90,000 to £120,000. That seems like a pretty hefty sum, but is it really going to be sufficient to pay off your mortgage, your debts, run the home and look after your children?

Death in service, while a valuable benefit, shouldn't replace your own life cover because:

a. It may not provide enough cover to fully protect your family

b. It can't usually be adapted to suit changes in your circumstances

c. If you leave your employer, you may be left with no cover at all

d. You can't be sure who will receive the benefits in the event of your death.

If someone else supports you financially or provides care for you, it makes sense to take out a life insurance policy on their life. Let's say later in life you move in with one of your children, so they can look after you in your twilight years. If anything happens to them, you could be left high and dry.

You can insure someone other than yourself as long as you can demonstrate ‘insurable interest'. That basically means you have a legitimate reason for insuring their life, and you can prove their death will impact on your financial wellbeing.