Do You Need Life Insurance for a Mortgage?
No law requires life insurance to obtain a mortgage in the United States. No federal regulation, no state statute, and no standard mortgage contract mandates it. A lender may not condition your mortgage approval on the purchase of any specific life insurance policy.
However, the financial argument for carrying it is strong in specific circumstances.
You should strongly consider mortgage life insurance if:
You have a co-borrower (spouse or partner) who could not afford the monthly payment alone on their income. The average US mortgage payment was approximately $2,200 per month in 2025. If one income disappears, the other income may be insufficient to sustain the payment, property taxes, insurance, and maintenance simultaneously.