My mother in law is a widow and has been for about 16 years.  It was very hard at first after her husband died.
Thats very sad im sorry to hear that .
I know in some places if the husband is the one who dies and he's the sole provider, it can leave the family destitute.  After my husband's dad passed away, we made sure that the insurance was sufficient if anything were to happen to my husband.
Thats good that you had the insurance in the right place.  Can you tell me more about how that works
Well basically since there is a tendency for women to outlive men generally, you can purchase life insurance through say your spouses company if they were to pass away.  So we bought extra insurance through his company to cover anything that may happen to him, from disability to death.  And we bought enough to make sure there wouldn't be any hardship.
Thanks for the information , very informative , i had no idea there was so many things that were covered from insurance 
Yes, it can be very useful - and the peace of mind is something also.  It can also help if there is something like a terminal illness or even a critical illness where he cannot work - this is basically called disability insurance - and is on top of the life insurance.