Joint Tenants & Check Payable to "And"

On checks, it is wisest to ignore captions like "joint tenants" or "tenants by the entirety" because they don't describe the ownership of the check itself. Instead, they typically appear because an account from which the check was issued is held as a joint tenancy or a tenancy by the entirety. If the check payee includes the word "and" the signatures of all payees are required before negotiation.

First published on BankersOnline.com 11/26/07