# Mortgage Protection Calculator: Keep the House? > See how many months your family could keep the house if your paycheck stopped, and the monthly amount that pays off the gap. Free calculator, no email. Canonical page: https://lifetimeplan.org/mortgage-protection # Would your family keep the house? Find out in 60 seconds. No email needed to see the number. 1 Who would be left with the mortgage? My spouse or partner Some income keeps coming in My kids or family My paycheck is the only one Pick one to get started My spouse or partner Change Set your numbers Rough is fine. One question at a time Months your family could keep the house? 0 months Uncovered each month? $0 The gap? $0 What you have? $0 Money left, no coverage With the gap covered? What the number covers? [Join free and price the gap](/join) Save my plan Send this to my spouse Adjust my numbers Estimate only, built from the numbers you entered. The funeral line uses the NFDA 2023 median of $8,300. Not a quote. Coverage, cost and approval depend on the carrier, your health and your state. [Disclosures](/disclosures) ## The paycheck stops. The mortgage doesn't. The bank does not pause the payment while a family grieves. Most families find out their runway is shorter than they thought. This is the number to know before it matters. ### One paycheck left. Your spouse keeps working, but one income rarely carries a mortgage, the bills and the kids. Coverage that pays the house off turns the hardest year into a manageable one. [Run it for my spouse](#calc) ### Your paycheck is the whole plan. Single parent, sole earner, or the one who carries the family. If your income stops, every bill lands on savings. The runway is usually measured in months, not years. [Run it for my family](#calc) Same house. Same savings. Different runway.? Spouse still working 0 mo vs Only paycheck 0 mo Months the family could keep the house on savings and a work policy alone. Example numbers, not a quote. ## Three steps. - 1 ### Run your runway Rough numbers are fine. See the months and the gap in seconds. - 2 ### Join free? Save the number. Build your Family Ready Score. No cost. - 3 ### Book your free call? 30 minutes with Alek Sarkis. They shop several carriers for the gap. [Show my runway](#calc) ## Everything a family needs. Nothing to pay. The number is the start. Membership is how the house actually gets protected. - ### Your Family Ready Score? A live score, badges and levels that show how ready your family is. - ### Your own adviser? Direct messages and a free 30-minute call with Alek Sarkis. - ### Community? Ask questions. Share wins. Learn from families who did this already. - ### 50 tools, 23 courses? Mortgage, coverage, paperwork and money tools. Short courses with certificates. [Join free](/join) No card. No fee. Close your account any time by messaging us. ## What happens to the house? The questions families actually type into a search bar at 11pm, answered straight. **What happens to my mortgage when I die?** The loan does not disappear. It stays attached to the house. Whoever keeps the house keeps making the payments, or the house is sold and the loan is paid from the sale. If nobody can pay, the lender can eventually foreclose. Coverage that pays the balance off is the simplest way to take that risk off the table. **Does the bank forgive the mortgage if the borrower dies?** No. Mortgage debt is not forgiven on death. The balance is owed by the estate and secured by the house. Federal law does let a surviving spouse or child who inherits the home keep the loan and keep paying it, without the bank calling the whole balance due. **My spouse is not on the loan. Can she keep the house?** Usually yes. Under the Garn-St Germain Act a lender cannot enforce a due-on-sale clause when a home passes to a spouse or child because of death. She can take over the payments as a successor in interest. She still has to be able to afford them, which is the whole point of running your runway. **My wife is a stay-at-home mom. Should she have coverage too?** Usually yes. If she died, you would suddenly be paying for childcare, and many people cut hours or change jobs to be home more. That is a real cost, and it lands on the same paycheck that carries the mortgage. A modest policy on the stay-at-home parent is common, often inexpensive, and it keeps the plan working in both directions. **We are not married. Can my partner be the beneficiary?** Yes. You can name anyone as beneficiary on a policy you own, married or not. Some carriers ask you to show an insurable interest, and sharing a mortgage or a home is usually enough. Naming your partner directly matters more when you are unmarried, because without a will or a beneficiary form, state law may not send anything their way. **Should we get one joint policy or two separate ones?** Two separate policies usually fit a couple with a mortgage better. A joint first-to-die policy pays once and then ends, leaving the survivor with no coverage at the moment they most need it. Two policies can be sized to each person's role, priced on each person's health, and one keeps going if the other is claimed. Ask on the call which works for your budget. **We both work. Do we still need mortgage protection?** Run the calculator with the income that would continue and see. Two incomes usually mean a longer runway, but the mortgage was sized for both paychecks, and one of them rarely carries it plus childcare plus everything else. If the months come back short of a year, the gap is worth pricing. If your spouse could carry it comfortably, you may need less than you think, and the call will say so. **What is mortgage protection insurance?** Life insurance bought with the mortgage in mind. Some versions pay the lender directly and shrink as the balance shrinks. The kind most families prefer is a level term policy owned by you, sized to the mortgage, where your family gets the check and decides what to do with it. Alek Sarkis walks through both on your free call. **Is mortgage protection insurance a scam?** No, but the mailers that show up right after you close can be overpriced. The letter that says "important information about your mortgage" is marketing. A licensed independent agent can compare that offer against several carriers in a few minutes, and the difference is often large. **Mortgage protection vs term life, which is better?** For most families, a level term life policy sized to cover the mortgage does the same job with more flexibility and usually a lower cost. The family gets the money, not the bank, and the benefit does not shrink. Decreasing-benefit mortgage products can make sense when health makes regular term hard to get. **How much coverage do I need to protect the house?** Start with the payoff balance. Then add at least a year of the other bills so the family has breathing room, and the cost of a funeral. Subtract savings they could actually reach and any coverage you already have. That is the gap the calculator shows. Many families round it up to also cover childcare or college. **How long should the coverage last?** Long enough to outlast the mortgage and the years your kids depend on you. If you have 22 years left on the loan and a five-year-old at home, a 20 or 25 year term fits. The membership has a tool that works out the term length from your real dates. **I have life insurance through work. Isn't that enough?** Work coverage is usually one or two times your salary, which rarely covers a mortgage. It also ends when the job ends, and it is not yours to take with you. Count it in the calculator, then look at the gap that is left. **What does mortgage protection cost per month?** It depends on your age, health, nicotine use, the amount and the term length, and it varies a lot between carriers for the same person. That is why nobody honest quotes a number on a web page. Alek Sarkis prices your exact gap across several carriers on the free call, and the estimate you set aside in the calculator is just to see if the plan fits your budget. **Can I get coverage with diabetes, high blood pressure or a heart history?** Very often, yes. Different carriers treat the same condition differently, which is exactly why shopping several of them matters. Well-managed conditions can get standard rates with some carriers. Others offer simplified or guaranteed issue coverage with no exam. **Do I need a medical exam?** Not always. Many carriers now approve coverage with a short health questionnaire, a prescription history check and no needle. Larger amounts or certain health histories may still call for an exam. Alek Sarkis tells you which path fits before you apply. **What are living benefits?** Riders that let you use part of the death benefit while you are alive after a qualifying terminal, chronic or critical illness. For a family with a mortgage, that can mean keeping the house through a cancer diagnosis or a stroke, not only after a death. Many carriers include them at no extra cost. **Can I get my premiums back if I never use it?** Some term policies offer a return-of-premium rider that refunds what you paid if you outlive the term. It costs more each month. Whether it is worth it depends on your budget and how you would otherwise use the difference. It is a fair question for the call. **Who gets the money, the bank or my family?** With a policy you own, your named beneficiary gets the money, income-tax-free, usually within weeks of a claim. They can pay the house off, keep paying monthly, or use it for whatever the family needs most. Lender-paid products send the check to the bank. **I am a single mom. Who would get the house?** Whoever you name in a will, or your closest relatives under state law if there is no will. Minor children can inherit a house, but they cannot sign for a mortgage or manage it, so a court appoints someone to handle it until they are adults. A will that names a guardian and a trustee, plus coverage that pays the loan off, keeps that decision in your hands instead of a judge's. **Can I name my kids as beneficiaries directly?** You can, but if they are minors the carrier will not hand a child a check. A court names a guardian of the money, and the child receives all of it at 18 or 21 with no strings. Most single parents instead name a trust for the children, or a trusted adult under the state's Uniform Transfers to Minors Act, so the money pays the mortgage and the bills the way you intended. **Who pays the mortgage until the house sells?** The estate does, out of whatever cash it has, and the payments keep coming due every month while the house sits on the market. If the estate runs dry, the lender can start foreclosure even with a sale pending. That is the reason reachable savings and coverage that pays quickly matter so much for a sole earner. A few months of payments in the bank buys the family time to sell well instead of fast. **Can my parents take over my loan if something happens to me?** Sometimes. Federal rules let a relative who inherits the home keep paying the existing loan without the bank calling it due, and many lenders will formally add them as a successor in interest. They still have to be able to afford the payment on their own income, and if they are retired that can be the sticking point. Coverage that clears the balance makes the question go away. **How fast does a life insurance claim pay out?** Once the death certificate and claim form are in, many carriers pay within two to four weeks. Claims in the first two years of a policy can take longer while the carrier reviews the application. Meanwhile the mortgage is still due, which is why savings that cover a couple of months matter too. **What is the two-year contestability period?** For the first two years, a carrier can investigate a claim and deny it if the application was not truthful. After two years, the policy is generally incontestable. Answer the health questions honestly and this never becomes a problem. **Does life insurance go through probate?** Not when there is a living named beneficiary. The carrier pays that person directly and the money never enters the estate. If the beneficiary is blank, or is the estate, the money can get tied up for months. Check the form once a year. **I am self-employed. Does that change anything?** Only that you have no work policy to count. Your income is the family's income, so the runway math is the same and the gap tends to be bigger. Carriers underwrite self-employed applicants normally. **Should both spouses be covered?** Usually yes. If a stay-at-home parent dies, the working spouse suddenly pays for childcare and may work less. If the earner dies, the income stops. Two policies sized to each role are common and often cheaper than people expect. **Does the calculator give me a quote?** No. It shows the months of runway and the gap, using only the numbers you entered and a funeral estimate. A quote comes from a carrier after health questions. Alek Sarkis requests real quotes across several carriers for your gap on the free call. **What happens after I use the calculator?** Tap Join free. The number is saved to a private dashboard with your Family Ready Score. From there you can message Alek Sarkis, your adviser, and book a free 30-minute call. No cost, no obligation. **Is membership really free?** Yes. No card, no trial, no fee. The dashboard, the community, the tools, the courses and the strategy call are all free. If you decide to start a policy, that is a separate choice you make with your adviser. **Which states do you serve?** Alek Sarkis is licensed in California. If you live somewhere else, join anyway, use the tools, and you will be pointed to a licensed agent for your state. **How do I talk to a real person?** Join free and request a call from your dashboard, call or text (818) 254-7227, or email alek@lionsinsurance.com. Calls are 30 minutes, free, with no obligation. **What if I already have a mortgage protection policy?** Bring it. Alek Sarkis reads what you have, checks whether the benefit shrinks, who it pays, and what it costs against today's market. Sometimes the answer is keep it. Sometimes a better policy costs less. You only find out by looking. ## Your family keeps the house. Run the runway. Join free. Book your call. Zero pressure. [Join free](/join) [Back to the calculator](#calc) --- Powered by [Launch Automation](https://launchautomation.ai/experience)