How Does A Joint Life Insurance Policy Work? 
A joint life insurance policy , or `` second-to-die '' or `` survivorship '' policy , pays the death benefit upon the death of the second person . This means that if a husband wants to leave the death benefit for his wife , he would not want to purchase a survivorship policy with his wife being the other insured person . Keep in mind that both persons on the policy must pass for the death benefit to be paid out . 