I have a child, how much life insurance do I need?

First eliminate the debt factor. Debts die with you, the only time they might possibly carry over is if you have a cosigner. Some will harass your spouse but if you didn’t sign the loan, you can fight it.

Second, the monies will be put in a trust until he/she is 18years old. Therefore, you want to leave a small amount for who will be the care taker. However, keep in mind your child will get your social security until the age of 18. Depending on how old you are that could be a few hundred to the care taker each month. It is wise to leave a little money for her to whoever will have her even if you are married.
What you want to base your amount on is the following….
Cost of college education? (which will go in the trust)
If you have any assets they will inherit (i.e. house, retirement, Ira’s)
If you take how much you spend on average on dependent needs per year and multiply it by the amount of years before they reach 25 years (college age) that will tell you what the cost will be to keep her custom of living the same. (This is the amount you will leave to the care giver. )
Burial’s are about 10K for a decent one.Add it up and you will have a total. On the life app put what part goes to the childs trust and the caregiver as the second beneficiary and what part goes to them.

Lastly as far as the type. Read on the differences of life Insurance. Whole life is great, however be careful agents will sell you on the fact that you should get whole because of cash value. Insurance is not an investment. The cost of the policy over a term for that amount, in many cases nets the cash value a.k.a. you put the cash in the policy, which is why it is the most expensive. A good choice is a universal life policy. You can get more for your dollar than whole life, the premium stays the same (get a target guaranteed UL), it builds up some value but towards later years in life it is used to pay down the policy so the cost doesn’t go up.

Example: 7 year old girl (good health)
10K whole life estimated to be $8.06. (Depending on the Life Insurance Company.)
25K universal life guaranteed death is estimated to be $9.09.