Etienne Fourie, Chief Sales Officer at BrightRock

Death cover can play an important role in estate planning by helping ensure that financial obligations are met when someone passes away. While many policies are structured as a single lump-sum payment to beneficiaries, estate planning often requires a more considered approach – one that accounts for immediate expenses, ongoing family needs, debts, and the practical costs of winding up an estate. BrightRock’s needs-matched approach is designed to align cover more closely with these realities, helping create greater financial certainty for loved ones and support a smoother estate administration process.

This is especially relevant in mid-life, when financial responsibility often reaches its peak. By this stage, many people have spent years building a career, supporting a household, paying off a home, and creating a standard of living they want to protect. Yet there is often a gap between what families would need and the cover they actually have.

For the average South African family to maintain their standard of living after the loss of a breadwinner, the required cover is estimated at around R1.8 million, while many remain insured for less than R800 000, leaving a substantial shortfall. In estate planning terms, this gap can mean insufficient liquidity to meet obligations and protect dependants. Choosing appropriate death cover is therefore not only about replacing income – it is also a deliberate step toward preserving a family’s lifestyle, safeguarding long-term goals, and turning years of financial effort into a more secure legacy.

Why structured death cover matters in estate planning

A well-structured death cover solution, such as BrightRock’s individual life needs-matched product, can support estate planning in three important ways:

1. Efficiency:Aligning cover with actual financial obligations can make protection more cost-effective and better targeted to a family’s needs;
2. Flexibility:Cover can be structured to reflect changing responsibilities over time, such as school fees, household expenses, or debt obligations;
3. Certainty:Clear benefit structures help families and advisers understand how funds will be used to support both estate-related costs and ongoing living expenses.

Addressing real-world financial obligations

When a policyholder passes away, their estate and dependants may face a range of financial obligations – from household expenses, childcare, and medical costs to one-off expenses such as funeral costs, executor fees, and potential estate duty. Death cover can be structured to help address these obligations, making it easier to protect dependants, preserve assets, and reduce financial strain during a difficult time. This is where BrightRock’s individual life needs-matched product can add value by aligning benefits more closely with specific financial responsibilities.

Here are two ways BrightRock’s product can be incorporated into an estate plan to better support a family’s needs:

• Ongoing income support:A portion of death cover can be allocated to recurring monthly pay-outs rather than only a once-off lump sum. This can help ensure that dependants continue receiving a steady income to cover essential expenses such as groceries, rent, schooling, or childcare. Incorporating this into estate planning can help maintain financial stability for beneficiaries over time;
• Lump-sum cover for major costs:For larger financial obligations, such as settling debts, covering estate administration costs, or creating liquidity in the estate, lump-sum pay-outs can provide critical support. This can help ensure that immediate obligations are met without eroding the funds intended for ongoing family support. Combining monthly income and lump-sum benefits can create a more balanced and practical estate plan.

For clients in mid-life, selecting the right policy requires careful thought. Advisers should help them assess whether cover is needed for a defined period – for example, until a bond is repaid or children complete their education – or whether lifelong cover is more appropriate for estate liquidity and legacy planning. It is equally important to calculate the level of support dependants would need to maintain their lifestyle, settle debts, and fund future milestones without placing the estate under pressure.

Health and lifestyle also influence premiums, but even clients with existing medical conditions may still have more options than they realise. In addition, supplementary benefits such as critical illness or disability cover can strengthen the overall protection strategy by addressing risks that may affect a client’s financial position before death. Where affordability becomes a concern, reviewing and restructuring cover may be more effective than cancelling it outright, helping clients remain protected while keeping their broader estate plans intact.

The role of death cover in a stronger estate plan

Estate planning is about more than distributing assets – it is also about ensuring that loved ones have the financial support they need when it matters most. By considering how death cover can meet both immediate estate expenses and longer-term household needs, advisers and clients can build plans that are more practical, resilient, and aligned with real-life obligations. BrightRock’s product supports this approach by helping tailor cover to the specific needs that shape a family’s financial future.

Ed’s note: Get to know Sean Hanlon, BrightRock’s Co-Founder, in our Exec Meet & Greet with him here.

ENDS