Best Life Insurance for Children: 4 Policies That Cover Kids in April 2025

As a parent, grandparent or legal guardian, buying life insurance for children is one way to guarantee coverage for them later in life.

Our list of the best life insurance for kids includes companies that offer standalone life insurance policies for children — not child term riders, which you typically attach to an existing policy. To refine the list, we assessed age eligibility, coverage amounts available, and the ease of getting a quote and purchasing a policy. We also looked at additional features, like the ability to top up the policy when the child grows up and reaches major milestones such as marriage or parenthood.

» MORE: Child life insurance: What is it and should you buy it?

Best life insurance for children in April 2025

All of the life insurance companies listed below scored at least 3 out of 5 stars. While life insurance policies for kids aren’t an everyday purchase, it’s important to compare life insurance quotes from a few companies before making a decision.

Best life insurance for children: Pros and cons

Overview: Along with its high coverage levels, American Family Life Insurance Company — also known as AmFam — stands out for its flexible payment options that allow you to pay off the policy sooner. You can choose a 10-year or 20-year payment plan, with the latter having more affordable life insurance rates. Regardless of which plan you pick, the premiums are locked in.

The policy has a built-in guaranteed purchase option benefit rider, which lets you increase the coverage at certain ages when the child experiences major life events, like getting married, buying a house or becoming a parent. American Family doesn’t require a life insurance medical exam at any of those times.

• AmFam child policy details

  Policy name: DreamSecure Children’s Whole Life.

  Policy type: Whole life insurance.

  Coverage amount: $25,000, $50,000 or $75,000.

Read the full review: American Family insurance review

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Overview: Mutual of Omaha’s policy offers simplified life insurance underwriting, which means you only have to answer three health questions about the child or grandchild you’re hoping to cover. The maximum coverage amount is relatively high at $50,000, and you can buy over the phone if you’d like to speak to an agent or online.

As with most children’s whole life policies, you have the option to buy additional whole life coverage when the child is an adult and gets married, purchases a home or has a child of their own, without the need for a medical exam. Mutual of Omaha stands out for also allowing you to buy more coverage at specific birthdays: 25, 30, 35 and 40.

If the policy owner dies two years (or more) after taking out the policy, Mutual of Omaha will waive premiums and the cost of other life insurance riders for 90 days.

• Mutual of Omaha child policy details

  Policy name: Children’s Whole Life Insurance.

  Policy type: Whole life insurance.

  Coverage amount: $5,000 to $50,000.

Read the full review: Mutual of Omaha life insurance review

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Overview: Aflac is unique for offering a choice in policies: whole life insurance or term life insurance. Both policies are available for children 14 days to 17 years old, in coverage amounts ranging from $10,000 to $30,000. The insurer doesn’t offer online quotes, so you’ll need to contact an Aflac advisor to get an idea of cost and apply for coverage.

Like all permanent policies, the whole life option provides lifelong coverage — even if the child develops health conditions later in life. Aflac’s term life policy covers the child until their 25th birthday. At that stage, the young adult can convert the existing coverage to a whole life policy worth up to double the face amount without taking a medical exam.

• Aflac child policy details

  Policy name: Juvenile Whole Life Insurance and Juvenile Term Life Insurance.

  Policy type: Whole life insurance and term life insurance.

  Coverage amount: $10,000, $20,000 or $30,000.

Read the full review: Aflac life insurance review

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Overview: Foresters allows you to enhance your child’s or grandchild’s coverage with an array of riders. These include an accelerated death benefit rider and a family health benefit rider, which helps to cover medical expenses you might incur as a result of natural disasters, like earthquakes and hurricanes. The insurer will also donate an additional 1% (up to $100,000) of the life insurance face amount to a charity of your choice in the event of the child’s death.

Foresters is a fraternal organization, and buying a policy for a child automatically enrolls them as a member. They’ll be able to access the portal and start attending events at the age of 16. However, there’s no option to apply for coverage online — you have to go through a representative.

• Foresters child policy details

  Policy name: BrightFuture Children’s Whole Life.

  Policy type: Whole life insurance.

  Coverage amount: $5,000 to $75,000.

Read the full review: Foresters life insurance review

How we ranked the top life insurers

NerdWallet’s life insurance ratings are based on consumer experience, complaint index scores from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners for individual life insurance, and weighted averages of financial strength ratings, which indicate a company’s ability to pay future claims. Within the consumer experience category, we consider ease of communication and website transparency, which looks at the depth of policy details available online. To calculate each insurer’s rating, we adjusted the scores to a curved 5-point scale.

These ratings are a guide, but we encourage you to shop around and compare several insurance quotes to find the best rate for you. NerdWallet does not receive compensation for any reviews. Read our editorial guidelines.

• How we review life insurance companies

  In our life insurance reviews, our editorial team considers both the customer and the insurer. These are some of the factors we take into account:

  Policies offered. There are many types of life insurance on the market, and they fall into three key categories:

  • Term life insurance offers temporary coverage and a guaranteed payout if the policyholder dies during the term.

  • Permanent life insurance typically lasts a lifetime and builds cash value that can be borrowed against in the future.

  • No-exam life insurance issues coverage without the need for a medical exam.

  Financial strength. We use A.M. Best ratings to confirm an insurer’s long-term financial stability and ability to pay claims. For life insurance, NerdWallet typically recommends considering insurers with ratings of A- or higher. Here’s the breakdown:

  • Exceptional: A+, A++

  • Strong: A-, A

  • Moderate: B, B+

  Complaints. These ratings are based on complaints to state regulators relative to a company’s size, according to three years’ worth of data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. The best life insurance companies have fewer than the expected number of complaints.

  Buy online. This indicates whether an insurer allows you to apply for and buy a policy completely online.

  Dive deeper: Ratings methodology for life insurance

Alternatives for the best life insurance for kids

If you don’t want to buy a separate policy for a child, consider adding a child term rider to your own life insurance policy. This rider can cover multiple children, and pay out a small amount — such as $5,000 to $25,000 — if a child dies. Keep in mind you’ll need to opt into this life insurance rider when you purchase your policy, but any children born or adopted once the policy is in place will typically be covered.

Another option is to take advantage of supplemental life insurance offered through your employer. Some policies cover eligible dependents, such as children. Speak to your benefits coordinator to find out if your workplace offers this coverage.

More about top-rated life insurance companies

Looking for a different type of life insurance policy? Check out NerdWallet’s top picks across these categories:

• Best life insurance companies.

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• Best universal life insurance companies.

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• Best instant life insurance.

• Best no medical exam life insurance.

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• Best mutual life insurance companies.

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