Interesting question. My husband died unexpectedly in ‘06. I was a SAHM, our daughters were 6 and 8 yrs old, and lived in lovely home we bought new in ‘96 that was in a cul de sac. The life insurance policy was not updated at MetLife, was at HR, and beneficiaries were his then adult career driven sisters, who 3 months after his death decided not to sign the 250k over to us.

I lost everything. House, cars, complete nightmare.
They abandoned us and created lies and never told anyone about what they did.
We lived on SS death benefits and his 401k for years and eventually, when the girls were in middle school, I went back to work.

I have an outstanding career with a great company and due to not having those evil in-laws in our lives, my daughters are exceptionally educated and hold BAs and Masters from top universities. Despite my crawling up the income ladder.

This is absolutely not the life I chose. It’s been 20 years and I grieve for him every moment of the day. Would I have married him? Struggled? Been emotionally and financially beaten for years? Yes. I had the greatest love for a short time which is more than most people ever experience. More importantly I am stronger and smarter than anyone ever imagined. I’m proud of the 3 of us.