Some common uses for life insurance coverage are for the payment of burial and funeral expenses, setting up a fund to pay a family income to replace the insured's income, education funds, emergency funds, pay off taxes, pay off any outstanding debt, etc.
Life insurance can pay for the expenses of your funeral, your left over expenses, and possibly the income you had earned is replaced for some period of time, depending upon the amount of your life insurance policy.
It will pay out only when you die, and unless you named a trust with instructions on what you wanted done with the money, your beneficiary is free to do whatever they want with the money that is left to him/her from the provides of your life insurance policy.
Here is a list of top reasons to buy life insurance and what some people choose to do with the proceeds from a life insurance policy.