Between deciding to start a policy and actually having one in force sits underwriting. Not knowing what happens in there is where a lot of people stall out. So here's the whole process, start to finish, with nothing dressed up.
It starts with the application, which is longer than you'd like. Health history, medications, family history, driving record, income, existing coverage. Answer everything straight. An application isn't the place to round in your favor. Carriers check what you wrote against prescription databases and medical records. A fib that gets caught can cost you the policy. Worse, it can give the carrier grounds to fight a claim your family files later. Telling the truth is the fast path here, and the safe one.
Then, depending on your age, health, and the size of the policy, there may be a paramedical exam. A technician comes to your kitchen, takes height, weight, blood pressure, blood, and urine, and is gone in half an hour. Plenty of policies at moderate amounts now skip the exam under accelerated underwriting. The carrier's data does the work instead. Your broker will know which path your application is likely to take. Larger policies also get financial underwriting, which is just the carrier confirming the coverage amount makes sense next to your income. Reasonable question, and usually one form.
The waiting is the part that tests people. Two weeks if everything is clean and accelerated. Six or eight if records have to be pulled from doctors' offices, and slow medical offices are the usual bottleneck, not the carrier. Then an offer comes back. Sometimes it matches the quote exactly. Sometimes it's a different rate class, better or a bit more expensive, based on what underwriting found. You can accept, have your broker push back, or walk away. Nothing is binding until you accept and pay.
One practical note: underwriting locks in your insurability based on today's health, and none of us get younger between now and the application. If you've decided this asset fits your plan, the process rewards starting sooner. The rest of the getting-started sequence is on the Get Started page. If you want the deeper education on what you're actually buying before you apply, that's what Lifetime LOC is for.