If a married couple of have a joint mortgage and the husband dies without any protection insurance does the mortgage liability still fall to the wife or is it paid off?
Yes when you take a joint mortgage liability is 'joint and several' which means you are both jointly and individually responsible. If one party cannot pay the other is responsible for the payments. This is why all mortgage companies should discuss a life policy with you.
It would be unusual for them to let you take out the mortgage without life cover being in place at the time. However, that doesn't mean that you couldn't have subsequently cancelled it.