Tripod, if you are recommending that people have life insurance in order to pay off debts when they die, that would mean that we would have to name our own estate as the beneficiary of the insurance. Leaving it to our parent, or brother, or cousin, or best friend does nothing to get the bills paid. Those people have no obligation to pay your bills. Of course, in most cases, our spouses do have legal obligation to pay our bills.
But if you think it is so important to pay your bills after you are dead, then it seems to me that the amount of life insurance you have should be a fundamental limit on the debt you take on. Want to finance a car whose resale value is going to decline faster than you pay off the debt? Make sure to increase your life insurance before making the purchase. (!?!?) Thinking of allowing a credit card issuer to increase your available credit? Better up the life insurance accordingly, just in case you actually use that credit. (!?!?)
Besides, if your estate --aside from life insurance-- has enough value, your estate will pay your bills when your are dead.
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