3 Answers

Depends on your mortgage holder, ask them.

This could be a tricky question.  If you are referring to a situation whereby your down payment is less than 20% of the property value, then it's probable that the lender is asking for additional protection in the case you cannot pay the monthly payments, hence, the PMI or Private Mortgage Insurance (they also offer FHA mortgage insurance as well).  However, my instinct (just instinct only) tells me that one of the 2 joint borrowers could purchase PMI if the down payment has already exceeded 20%, the loan taken out by 2 separate trusts (trust for the Mr. and trust for the Mrs.), and that one of the two borrowers' financial strengths is not as strong and reliable.  In any case, it's worth looking into, that's for sure.

You may have heard of private  mortgage insurance (PMI), an insurance you have to pay for when  you take out a home loan with a down payment of less than 20% from a  conventional lender.
Read more: http://www.investopedia.com/articles/mortgages-real-estate/09/federal-housing-authority.asp#ixzz1SKQjlulU

If you both already have sufficient life insurance coverage, why over-insure ? If you don't, get term life policies instead.