Should my life insurance coverage be joint or two separate individual policies?

For most married couples, two separate individual policies beat a single joint policy. Joint life comes in two flavors: first-to-die (pays once when the first spouse dies, then ends, leaving the survivor uninsured) and second-to-die (pays only after both die, used mainly for estate liquidity, not income replacement). Neither replaces the flexibility of individual coverage. With separate policies each spouse is insured for their own needs, coverage continues for the survivor, and a divorce does not tangle the policies together. Individual policies can also be sized differently, since a higher earner or the parent providing childcare may need different amounts. Unless you have a specific estate-planning reason for second-to-die, buy two individual term policies.