How do child riders on life insurance work?

A child rider is an optional add-on to your life insurance policy that provides a small amount of life insurance coverage for your children.

Headshot of Amanda Shih
Headshot of Katherine Murbach

By

Amanda ShihEditor & Licensed Life Insurance ExpertAmanda Shih is a licensed life, disability, and health insurance expert and a former editor at Policygenius, where she covered life insurance and disability insurance. Her expertise has appeared in Slate, Lifehacker, Little Spoon, and J.D. Power.&Katherine MurbachEditor & Licensed Life Insurance AgentKatherine Murbach is a life insurance and annuities editor, licensed life insurance agent, and former sales associate at Policygenius. Previously, she wrote about life and disability insurance for 1752 Financial, and advised over 1,500 clients on their life insurance policies as a sales associate.

Edited by

Antonio Ruiz-CamachoAntonio Ruiz-CamachoAssociate Content DirectorAntonio is a former associate content director who helped lead our life insurance and annuities editorial team at Policygenius. Previously, he was a senior director of content at Bankrate and CreditCards.com, as well as a principal writer covering personal finance at CNET.
|

Reviewed by

Michael Reynolds, CSRIC®, AIF®, CFT-I™Michael Reynolds, CSRIC®, AIF®, CFT-I™Financial AdvisorMichael Reynolds, CSRIC®, AIF®, CFT-I™, is a financial advisor, principal and founder of Elevation Financial, host of the weekly personal finance podcast Wealth Redefined®, and a member of the Financial Review Council at Policygenius.

Updated|3 min read

Expert reviewedExpert reviewedThis article has been reviewed by a member of ourFinancial Review Council to ensure all sources, statistics, and claims meet the highest standard for accurate and unbiased advice.Learn more about oureditorial review process.

Policygenius content follows strict guidelines for editorial accuracy and integrity. Learn about our editorial standards and how we make money.

Life insurance riders are coverage supplements that customize the terms of your policy or add extra protection under specific circumstances. A child rider is an add-on that provides a small death benefit if any of your children die while your policy is active.

Key Takeaways

  • If you want to insure your children, a child rider added to your own life insurance policy is usually a better option than a standalone policy for them.

  • Child riders are coverage supplements you can add on to your life insurance policy to cover your children.

  • Life insurance is meant to replace lost income when you die, and since most children don’t earn money, they don’t need their own life insurance policy.

  • If you would have difficulty paying for a funeral for your child, a child rider is an affordable way to have some financial support for a worst-case scenario.

How do you get life insurance for your child?

There are two options when it comes to buying life insurance coverage for children: a child rider added to your term life insurance policy or a standalone whole life insurance policy for your child.

  • Child life insurance policies only make sense in rare circumstances due to their high premiums. Child life policies are a type of whole life insurance, so they don’t expire.

  • A child rider is also known as a child term rider or child insurance rider. One child rider typically covers all of your children and any children you have in the future. It’s significantly less expensive than a child life insurance policy.

→ Learn more about understanding your life insurance policy

How do you add a child rider to your term life policy?

Most insurers allow adults age 18 to 65 to add child riders to their term life insurance policies, though some companies require you to be older than 20 or younger than 55 at the time of application. 

  • You usually add a child rider when you’re buying your policy. You can indicate on your application whether you want to add any riders or special features.

  • Some insurance companies don’t offer child riders in certain states due to insurance regulations.

  • The agent you’re working with will be able to help walk you through options. At Policygenius, our experts are licensed in 50 states and can help you compare and choose from policies tailored to your needs.

In some cases, insurance companies let you add a child rider after your policy is active, but not all insurers have the same guidelines.

Companies also have different restrictions around:

  • Maximum death benefit for child riders

  • Maximum age of the children covered

  • Medical information required for the rider

  • When the child rider expires

  • Whether the rider is convertible into child life insurance

Your children don’t have to take a medical exam for you to add a child rider, but you may have to take one for the policy to become active. However, some insurance companies do ask medical questions about your children. If your child has a pre-existing condition, your rider may not cover them.

How much does a child rider cost?

You can add a $10,000 child rider to your term policy for as little as $4.20 per month, whereas a child life insurance policy would cost at least $45 per month or more. 

  • The cost of the rider is added to your yearly or monthly premium

  • Using the above example, a child rider with $10,000 of coverage would cost about $50 a year in premiums. 

This coverage is separate from your base policy. In this scenario, if you have $500,000 coverage for yourself, the $10,000 for your child would be additional.

Does a child rider cover multiple children?

In most cases, one child rider covers all current and future children in your household, including birth children, adopted children, and stepchildren.

Grandchildren aren’t covered under a child rider in most cases, although they may be covered if the grandparent has legal guardianship and is younger than age 55 or 60, depending on the insurer.

You can usually buy coverage for children between 15 days and 18 years old. Riders last until your child reaches age 25 or you reach age 65 or age 75, depending on the insurer that issued your policy.

→ Learn more about life insurance riders

Ready to shop for life insurance?

Child riders by life insurance company

Here’s how many insurance companies handle child riders on term life insurance policies.

Company

Eligible ages

Coverage amount

Annual cost per $1,000

Asks medical questions?

Add to active policy?

Corebridge Financial

15 days to 18 years

$500 to $25,000

$5.00

Yes

Yes

Legal & General America

15 days to 18 years

$5,000 or $10,000

$5.50

No

No

Lincoln Financial

15 days to 18 years

$1,000 to $15,000

$5.00

Yes

Yes

Mutual of Omaha

15 days to 20 years

$1,000 to $10,000

$7.20

No

No

Pacific Life

15 days to 18 years

$1,000 to $10,000

$5.50

Yes

Yes

Protective

15 days to 18 years

$1,000 to $25,000

$6.00

Yes

Yes

Prudential

15 days to 18 years

$10,000 to $100,000

$5.15

Yes

No

Symetra

15 days to 17 years

$1,000 to $10,000

$4.20

No

No

Transamerica

15 days to 18 years

$1,000 to $99,000

$6.00

Yes

Yes

Collapse table

Methodology: Information based on policies offered by Policygenius as of 01/01/2024.

What happens when a child term rider expires?

Before the child rider expires, you can either convert it into an individual life insurance policy or let the coverage run out. 

  • If you let the rider expire, your child would then need to apply for their own life insurance coverage as an adult.

  • Most child riders can be converted into a permanent life insurance policy with up to five times the amount of the original rider’s coverage. If you have $10,000 in coverage on your child rider, you might be able to convert it to a $50,000 whole life policy for your child.

Learn more about how to convert a term life insurance policy

However, permanent policies are significantly more expensive than term life policies. Permanent life insurance is usually best suited for high-net-worth individuals or people who have dependents who require lifelong care.

If your child has a health condition that may prevent them from qualifying for a policy on their own, you may want to consider a permanent life insurance policy for them. Otherwise, they’ll be able to find a cheaper policy once they reach adulthood.

We don’t recommend buying separate life insurance policies for children, but child riders are an inexpensive way to get the most out of your life insurance policy.

If the cost of a funeral would cause your family financial trouble, consider adding a child rider to your term life insurance coverage.

Learn more about the differences between term life and whole life insurance

Authors

Amanda Shih is a licensed life, disability, and health insurance expert and a former editor at Policygenius, where she covered life insurance and disability insurance. Her expertise has appeared in Slate, Lifehacker, Little Spoon, and J.D. Power.

Katherine Murbach is a life insurance and annuities editor, licensed life insurance agent, and former sales associate at Policygenius. Previously, she wrote about life and disability insurance for 1752 Financial, and advised over 1,500 clients on their life insurance policies as a sales associate.

Editor

Antonio is a former associate content director who helped lead our life insurance and annuities editorial team at Policygenius. Previously, he was a senior director of content at Bankrate and CreditCards.com, as well as a principal writer covering personal finance at CNET.

Expert reviewer

Michael Reynolds, CSRIC®, AIF®, CFT-I™, is a financial advisor, principal and founder of Elevation Financial, host of the weekly personal finance podcast Wealth Redefined®, and a member of the Financial Review Council at Policygenius.

Questions about this page? Email us at .