Key Person Life Insurance: 

This insurance is intended to provide a business the capital necessary to see it through the loss due to death of a key individual. The capital would be typically used for such things as recruitment and training of a replacement employee or partner.

Buy Sell Agreements:

If you have a partner in a business, and that partner dies, their shares in your business are likely to pass over to their spouse. This places you in the position of now being in business with your partner's spouse. To prevent this, buy sell agreements are often put in place.

The partners and their beneficiaries agree that should one partner die, that partner's spouse is required to sell their shares back to the remaining partners - at a reasonable price. The money to buy this forced purchase is often times provided through life insurance.

If a partner dies, the life insurance proceeds are paid by the insurer to the remaining partners, who then give that money to the deceased partner's spouse in return for their shares. This technique requires the assistance of a skilled lawyer and accountant.