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Our local newspaper, the Sun Sentinel, published an article on the "Jewish American Bar Association." If you've read my past posts (first here, then here, and then here), there is not much new in the story. However, for those who haven't, I think it does a good job of introducing the issues.

First, I want to reiterate that when I first saw the bench, my initial visceral reaction, was that of a Jew.  This was before I did any of the research into the "JABA," or the law surrounding it.  I made the reasonable assumption that the "Jewish American Bar Association" actually was, well, a Bar Association.  I couldn't understand why the "Jewish American Bar Association" would be telling people that they should be using Jewish lawyers only. Yes, it was telling.  That's the point of the exclamation point.  If it was asking for people who "Prefer a Jewish Lawyer" there would be a question mark.  I was taken aback that they'd be playing on ethnic stereotypes and potentially fostering hostility between Jewish lawyers and non-Jewish lawyers,  I found whoever did it was "shockingly stupid."

But once I did some research, I became far more offended as an attorney.  Despite all of the "lawyer jokes" out there, I still believe that I am a member of a noble profession -- one that has to maintain a level of integrity and a duty to the public at large. The "Jewish American Bar Association" wasn't a real Bar Association, but just another for-profit referral service run by a non-lawyer, playing both upon racial stereotypes, and the public perception of what a "Bar Association" is.

At this point, I'm not interested in getting into more back and forth on this issue, although I may write more in a few days after I gather my thoughts.

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There is none.

Carry on.

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A week ago, I saw something that really pissed me off.

As I wrote in my September 11, 2010 post, it was an advertisement on a bench that said "PREER A JEWISH LAWYER! Jewish Lawyer Referral Service. JEWISH AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION." If you want to see the ad, check out my original post or my follow-up. The ad was right outside of the Broward County Courthouse, and right outside of my home.  I had to see it every day, multiple times a day, and every time I saw it, it felt like a punch in the gut.

How could someone so blatantly and openly trot out ethnic stereotypes?

And how come I never heard of the "Jewish American Bar Association."

I was angry, and I started digging.

I don't think the public realizes the amount of information that is out there and is available.  Twenty years ago this information may have been available, but it would have required official letters and requests to who knows how many agencies in order to get it.  Today, you just have to know where to look online.

Google easily found me their site, which has changed a number of times since my first post.  But the site didn't really tell me anything.  It was poorly designed, self serving, and full of plagiarized and extraneous information having to do with nothing (such as a "Mission Statement" that was the Asian American Bar Association's with the word Jewish substituted for Asian, plus a list of offensive Jewish jokes).

The first place I looked was the Florida Secretary of State's Website, Sunbiz.org. There, you can look up any business entity, be it corporation, general partnership, limited partnership, or limited liability company (LLC) licensed to do business in Florida.

And there is was --the Sunbiz.org Page for the "Jewish American Bar Association, Inc"

The "Inc." is a nice, and telling, touch. The Jewish American Bar Association filed as a "foreign" (meaning another state, not another country) for Profit Corporation on August 14, 2009.  It lists its mailing address in Boca Raton, its Registered Agent, and Officers and Directors (which is where I got the name Lisa Spitzer).  It even has a copy of the handwritten Application by a Foreign Corporation to Transact Business in Florida. From there, I checked out their information on the Delaware Secretary of State's website, and did a little snooping as to their addresses, and related companies.

From there, I just starting writing.  I saw something that I knew was wrong and it pissed me off.  It wasn't just wrong because of the "Jewish" part, although that's what first jolted me.  It was wrong because it was a for profit organization claiming to be a "Bar Association" in violation of the law.  It was misleading and deceptive.

And yes, I found it offensive.

I want clients to prefer David Shulman.  Not necessarily a "Jewish Lawyer."

Anyway, I saw today that the ad was gone, replaced with an advertisement for the generic AAA Attorney Referral Service, Inc.

I don't know whether or not there were other "Prefer a Jewish Lawyer" bench ads, or if the company is going to advertise elsewhere. I contacted the Florida Bar, which seemed responsive to my concerns.

At this point, I feel I did my part.  Now I'm going to let the Florida Bar do theirs.

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I'm hesitant to write yet a third post on the "Prefer a Jewish Lawyer!" bench ad, (you can read my first post here, and my second post here), primarily because I'm afraid of coming off as an obsessed nut. However, Congress still hasn't taken any action on the estate tax, and I just can't bring myself to write yet another treacly "if you don't have a Will, then a cute little puppy will cry" post. There are plenty of estate planning attorney bloggers out there who do that.

Besides, I find this topic interesting.

It's my blog and I'll kvetch if I want to.

Brian Cuban is a Dallas, TX attorney who blogs at The Cuban Revolution and is the brother of Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.  According to his blog, Brian writes and speaks about social media and hate speech on the internet. After reading my earlier posts on the subject, he sent an email to the "Jewish American Bar Association" inquiring about the bench ad, and Lisa Spitzer -- who according to the Florida Secretary of State is the sole officer and director of the for profit corporation -- responded.

Brian gave me permission to post the exchange on my blog. With the exception of the redacting of (1) email addresses of all parties (2) the names of people who were CCed but did not participate in the conversation, Brian's email and Lisa Spitzer's response are posted unedited. After the email exchange, I will post my own comments.

If any of the parties involved, or any of their representatives, want to respond or comment further, they are free to contact me and I will post their response unedited and in full.

Brian Cuban's Email to the "Jewish American Bar Association"

From: Brian Cuban
Subject: Your Bench Ad
To: Redacted
Date: Monday, September 13, 2010, 9:54 PM

Your Bench Ad

Sir/Madam:

I am writing a story with regards to your bench add soliciting clients looking for “Jewish Lawyers” , Whether you are aware or not, it has received negative attention on Twitter and blogs as being Anti-Semitic and pandering to Jewish stereotypes.  It is also misleading as there is no such thing as The Jewish American Bar Association as any type of Bar Sanctioned entity.  Would you like to comment before I write my story?

http://www.sofloridaestateplanning.com/2010/09/articles/random/shockingly-stupid-antisemitic-attorney-ad-right-across-the-street-from-the-courthouse/

Sincerely

Brian Cuban

Lisa Spitzer's Response to Brian Cuban

From: LISA SPITZER 
Subject: Re: Fw: Your Bench Ad
Date: Tuesday, September 14, 2010, 3:40 PM

It is legitimate. The lawyer referral service is in compliance with 4-7.8. The Florida Bar does not sanction voluntary bar Associations nor  do they regulate them. It is an organization.  There  dozens of voluntary bar associations and ethnic organizations in the country. A local synagogue in Broward runs a Bar Association. We are not anti-semitic.

I am a social worker and graduate of NYU  School of Social Work.  Mr Shulman has most of his facts wrong.  The ABA does have members and they charge dues for membership. A Bar association does not need to be run by a lawyer. Lawyer referral services do not split fees.  We are quite legitimate and offer many services and benefits. People want Jewish Lawyers, female lawyers, gay lesbian lawyers and there are Bar Association for members in each of these categories. There are many Jewish organizations who promote Jewish lawyers nationwide. Find law has a specific search for JEWISH LAWYER and findajewishlawyer.com exists  as well.   We are not going anyplace. We plan on growing as a nationwide organization.  This is much to do about nothing. It is high Holy days week now, a time if kindness and self reflection.  Have a good day Lisa Spitzer

My thoughts on this exchange

There are a number of very interesting things in her email that I'll save for a later post (always keep the audience wanting more), and I've already written a little bit about why I object to the "Prefer a Jewish Lawyer!" ad as a Jew.

In this post I really want to focus on why I find it so objectionable as a Lawyer. My objection to the "Jewish American Bar Association" is and continues to be that it's name is deliberately misleading.

What is a "Bar Association"?

There are two types of "Bar Associations" -- mandatory and voluntary.  A mandatory Bar Association is the State Bar, i.e. the Florida Bar, the Georgia Bar, the California Bar, etc.  These are called "Mandatory" Bar Associations, because if an attorney wants to practice in a certain state, it is mandatory that they be licensed to do so by that state's Bar.

Then there are "voluntary" Bar Associations, which Ms. Spitzer claims the "Jewish American Bar Association" is. She further adds, "The Florida Bar does not sanction voluntary bar Associations nor  do they regulate them. It is an organization.  There  dozens of voluntary bar associations and ethnic organizations in the country . . . People want Jewish lawyers, female lawyers, gay lesbian lawyers and there are Bar Association for members in each of these categories."

Unfortunately, her statement that "the Florida Bar does not sanction voluntary bar Associations nor do they regulate them" is untrue.  In fact, the Florida Bar has a website listing a few hundred voluntary bar associations and there is even a standing committee on Voluntary Bar Associations, which I didn't know about when I wrote my previous posts, but I will be contacting them shortly. To present yourself to the public as a "Bar Association" you are giving the impression that you a not for profit organization dedicated to the public good, instead of a for profit business dedicated to making the owner money.

Here are just a small example of genuine voluntary bar associations with links to their webpages, and to the Florida Secretary of State's website showing that they are non profit corporations:

1. Asian Pacific American Bar Association of South Florida -- A Florida Non Profit Corporation
2. Caribbean Bar Association - A Florida Non Profit Corporation
3. Cuban American Bar Association -- A Florida Non Profit Corporation
4. Central Florida Gay & Lesbian Law Association -- A Florida Non Profit Corporation

The difference between each of those voluntary bar associations and the "Jewish American Bar Association" is that each and every one of the legitimate voluntary bar associations is a non-profit entity.  That means that no one owns the organization and there is no private inurement to any individual.  They serve their members and the public. There already is a non-profit organization in Broward County for Jewish lawyers, the B'nai B'rith Justice Unit.

B'nai Brith was founded in 1843.  The "Jewish American Bar Association" was incorporated in 2009.

Legitimate voluntary bar associations serve their members and the public.  It's a shame that they could be tarnished by someone improperly using their good name.

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This past week Jews observed the holiday of Rosh Hashanah which is the New Year on the Jewish calendar.  Happy 5771. Right now we are in the middle of the Aseret Yemei Tshuva or the 10 Days of Awe, the ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. It is supposed to be a time of introspection and repentance. It's a good time too look back and the past year, or even the past few years if necessary, and to think about where you've been and where you are going.

In February 2009 I left the large law firm that I was working for, and started my own solo practice. When I opened my doors, metaphorically at least, I had no clients. But I even before I began my practice, I decided, and knew that I was going to do things "differently." Being an internet addict, my plan was that I was going to build my law firm entirely based on online marketing. I would blog. I would tweet. I would use LinkedIn. I would participate in forums and ListServs.

But most important was belief that if I built it, they would come.

I actually, and naively, thought that this was a good idea.  Even more naively, I thought that it was my idea and that no one ever had really done it before.

It turns out, that none of that was true.

First, I was certainly not the first person to come up with the idea that a law practice can be successful by only marketing online.

Second, while an online presence is important -- very important -- abandoning the real world is real mistake.

We need to do the same thing both online and offline.  That is we need to build relationships with other people based upon trust.

There's nothing new about networking offline, so I really don't have much to add to that discussion. I would like to talk today and tomorrow about some thoughts I have re: lawyers and the internet. It doesn't matter how fancy my website is or how many times I post on Twitter, or even how many handshake and business card exchange events that I go to. They way for me to generate business is to show people that I am worthy of their trust.  I had to develop real relationships with real people.

"Social Media" is just a fancy way of getting to know people and allowing people to get to know you online.  That's it.

So how do I use the internet?

First and foremost, I use it to learn.

I try to read as many other blogs written by attorneys as I possibly can. I have over 1000 posts in my RSS reader every day. Part of why I do this is to learn about the law, especially developments in the field of estate planning, probate, and tax. But I'm also looking to see what other attorneys (and some non-attorneys) have to say about others areas of the law, or about technology, or marketing, or politics, or anything.  I obviously don't read 1,000 posts a day every day.  Some days I read none of them. Mostly, I'll just quickly skim headlines to see if anything catches my eye, and then flag it for reading later.

However, I'm becoming more and more disappointed and disillusioned with the legal blogosphere. Yes, I know that I don't post as much as I should either, but when I do post, I try to post something of substance. Of meaning.  Of value. One thing that drives me nuts when reading other lawyer blogs, is when the attorney-author is so obviously straightforward about their advertising. It's the constant "call to action" that they put at the end of every post. If you read my blog carefully, you'll notice that I NEVER say, "and if you need a will, please call me at 954-990-0896." Even worse are the people who talk about themselves in the third person as in "please call David."

I don't think it's effective.  Worse, I think it's schlocky.

I blog (when I blog, I'm trying to do it more often) because I like to write.  I like to write about the things that interest me, and I hope that you, Dear Reader, find them interesting too.  Do I hope that people will notice me and say "hey, that guy seems pretty smart and is someone I can trust" and hire me or refer me their clients?  Of course I do, and to say otherwise would be dishonest.

But I also hope that when you come away from one of my posts, you learned something that you didn't know beforehand. Then maybe, you might trust me enough to hire me or to refer me clients.

Happy New Year, and if you want to make the baby kittens smile, please call David to do your Will at. . . just kidding.

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I'd like to follow up yesterday's post, regarding the bench ad that says, "Prefer a Jewish Lawyer!" I'm afraid that I may have changed the intended focus of my point when I used the words "anti-Semitic" in the post's title. If you notice, the title of the article is "Shockingly Stupid Anti-Semitic Attorney Ad Right Across the Street from the Courthouse." The word "shockingly" modifies "stupid" and not "anti-Semitic."

Anti-Semitic?

First, I'd like to deal with the issue as to whether or not it is "anti-Semitic." Several people have written me privately and said something to the extent of, "It's not anti-Semitic because they are saying that Jewish lawyers are good.  It would have to be saying bad things about Jews for it to be anti-Semitic."

Really?

What if the ad said, "Prefer a Mexican Gardener! Call the Organization of Mexican Gardeners for a Referral"? (And adding insult to injury, there is no such thing, but just one person who isn't a gardener charing other gardeners, Mexican or not, to join and get referrals)

Or, what if a sports columnist wrote that he prefers black athletes? Shades of Jimmy the Greek?

It's clearly racist because it plays on stereotypes that being of a certain ethnicity makes you better at something than people of other ethnicities.  In retrospect, I probably should have used the word racist and not anti-Semitic, but then I would have gotten the emails arguing with me as to whether or not Jews are a race.

Either way, it's clearly playing upon the stereotype that a "Jewish Lawyer" is somehow smarter or better than non-Jewish lawyers.

Offensive? Racist? Anti-Semtic? Anti-Gentile because they are saying non-Jewish lawyers aren't as good?

Whatever. Pick the word that you like best.  The point remains the same.

They're not Marketing to Jewish People

Other people wrote to me that the ad is legitimate because people of certain ethnic groups will often prefer to deal with professionals of the same group.  For example, Jews would prefer a Jewish lawyer, blacks would prefer a black doctor, Martians would prefer a Martian Shmizlap, etc. I think that this may be true for older generations, but is probably not true today, for younger people.  Even so, it doesn't matter, because the "Jewish American Bar Association," which remember, is a for-profit company owned by one person only who isn't even a lawyer, isn't marketing directly to Jewish people.  If this were an ad in the classifieds of the local Temple Bulletin, and if the "Jewish American Bar Association" were an actual real non-profit organization and not a sham, I wouldn't be as bothered.

But by putting the bench directly across the street from the Courthouse, they are marketing towards the general population.  These are the people who have jury duty, or who are going through divorce, or foreclosure, or who have a family member who is on trial, or who are involved in a personal injury case, etc.  There are certainly Jewish people among that crowd.  But if I had to guess, I'd say the percentage of Jews there is about 10%, which is approximately the percentage of Jews in Broward County, Florida.  In other words, no fewer or greater of a percentage than the general population here. If they put an ad in the local Temple newsletter, then 99% of their audience would be Jews (with a 1% margin of error). Here, 90% of their audience are non-Jews.

So the argument that the ad is ok because "Jews want to go to a Jewish lawyer" doesn't work either.

Shockingly Stupid

But my main point is still that this ad, and that this sham of an organization is shockingly stupid. Take a look at their incompetently formatted and horribly amateur website. As one friend wrote to me, "It looks like it was designed by a seven year old." It's a mess of:

1. Stolen Material (for example, its "Mission Statement" is the same as the Asian-Pacific American Bar Association's (which appears to be a real group by the way), but they replaced "Asian Pacific" with "Jewish";
2. "Jewish Jokes" -- Complete with disclaimer, "WARNING:  Please do not read the jokes in this section if you are priggish or otherwise thin-skinned! Some of the jokes you may consider to be in bad taste, though frankly your level of comfort reading these jokes will correspond to your own level of self-acceptance within the larger Jewish "mishpochah" or havurah.";
3. Outbound links to their other referral sites;
4. Desperate attempts at self-promotion;
5. Just general. . . I have no other word for it than stupidness.

You have to check it our for yourself, as I suspect that it won't be up for long.

Finally, I wonder who is eligible for membership?

How does one prove to them that they are Jewish?

I wonder if I'd have to show them evidence of my Bris.

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I live in a condominium across the street from the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. I enjoy living downtown, near my office, Las Olas Blvd, and of course, being across from the court is very convenient. The reason I am saying this, is that when I was driving home today, I saw the following bench directly across the street from the Courthouse.

Are you kidding me?

I have no idea what to say about this.  I don't know what is more astounding --the chutzpah of putting this bench directly across the street from the main Courthouse, or the fact that anyone actually thinks that this is a good idea.

First of all, there's no such thing as the "Jewish American Bar Association."

Well, there is, but it was founded last year, on June 3, 2009, in Delaware.  Go to the Delaware Secretary of State's website and do a search for "Jewish American Bar Association" or for File #4694550. They also registered as a foreign corporation doing business in Florida as the Jewish American Bar Association, Inc. Their President is one "Lisa Spitzer" and according to the Florida Bar Website, there is no one under that name licensed to practice law in Florida.

I did not call the number.  Maybe I should have before posting, but I think the sign speaks for itself.

Furthermore, a quick Google found their website. It has no real information of who they are and what they do, just a load of crap. Among other nonsense they state, "The Jewish American Bar Association is a member of the American Bar Association (ABA)." I didn't realize that fake organizations could be a "member" of the ABA.  I thought it was limited to human beings. Maybe I'm wrong.

So what the hell is this?  I'm not sure, but it looks like a corporation founded by one Lisa Spitzer to exploit the stereotypical belief that a "Jewish" lawyer is somehow better. Trust me, I know a lot of great and crappy lawyers who are both Jewish and non-Jewish. They (meaning the "Jewish American Bar Association, Inc.") make money by charging "Jewish" lawyers a membership fee to be listed by the site, plus each lawyer has to pay them "a processing charge for each referral," which considering the fact that they are not members of the Florida Bar, violates Bar rules.

Let me put it this way. Any lawyer who actually signs up for this site, whether they are Jewish or not, is probably too stupid for you to trust with your important legal matters.

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Nine years ago, on September 11, 2001, I was working as a tax attorney with the Internal Revenue Service in Washington, DC.  I was in the Office of Chief Counsel, Passthroughs and Special Industries -- Branch 3.  The Office of Chief Counsel serves as the in-house law firm to the IRS, and at the time, it was divided into divisions based upon subject matter -- Income Tax and Accounting, Corporate, International, Financial Institutions and Products, Procedure and Administration, and Passthroughs and Special Industries (PSI).

My branch was responsible for drafting regulations, revenue rulings, revenue procedures, and private letter rulings concerning the income taxation of partnerships, subchapter S corporations, and trusts.  I had been there since the Fall of 1998, and it was my first job out of law school.  In fact, as I had been going to school my entire life, it was my first full time real job ever.

The IRS main headquarters, where I worked, is located at 1111 Constitution Avenue NW. A massive building, it is bordered by Constitution Avenue on the south side, Pennsylvania Avenue on the north side, and it's about 1/3 of the way between the White House and the Capitol Building.  Almost every day, on my way to or from work, or to do errands, I would walk by or drive by the White House, the Washington Monument, the FBI building, the State Department, and a host of other Federal Office buildings.

I remember that it was a clear blue morning, and that the oppressive unbearable heat and humidity of the DC summers was starting to fade.  I was in my "office," if you want to call it that.  In reality, my office was a corner in a bay with a divider between me and another attorney.  Not exactly a cubicle, but certainly not an office with any door. Our window overlooked an interior courtyard.  It had benches, plants, and a fountain; and during my entire seven years at the IRS, I never met anyone who ever set foot in there.

I don't remember when and where I first heard that something was happening -- whether it was from a friend who called me, or chatter in the hallways.  It may have been at least partially from the internet, but I do remember that the internet was mostly down -- at least the websites that could provide any news were too hammered to get to. But when I went to the window of the office of a colleague that faced Constitution Avenue, the thick black smoke rising from the Pentagon in the distance was clearly unmistakable.

There were all sorts of rumors flying around the building.  We had heard about New York, but without a TV or decent internet access, we really didn't know the extent of it. At the time, we were a bit concerned for our own safety and what was happening around us. There was a bomb at the State Department. The Mall was on fire. There was an explosion at the Capitol.

Of course, none of which was true. but we didn't know what was happening or who was behind it. We had no idea if this was a foreign attack, or domestic terrorism like Oklahoma City. One thing I did know is what people thought of the IRS. I could see it in the faces of people when I introduced myself to them, and heard it in the stupid jokes that they thought were funny but I had heard hundreds of times before. We were the punch line and the punching bag for whatever idiot was running for Congress, vowing to "stand up to the IRS" or to "put the IRS out of business," while of course raising spending on whatever pet project his backwater district needed.

Either way, I did not want to wait around in the middle of downtown Washington, DC, blocks away from dozens of targets (aside being a target ourselves) to find out who was behind it.  At some point that morning everyone in the building seemed to simultaneously come to the same decision -- I'm getting the hell out of here.

I lived in an apartment in the Adams Morgan section of DC, about three miles from the office -- at the corner of 16th street and Columbia Rd.  To get home, I usually took the bus, which drove right past the Treasury Department and the White House.  But there was no way I was going to be able to get a bus home that day and get home in a reasonable amount of time.  So I decided to walk.  There were thousands of people out on the streets everywhere, chattering nervously about what had happened. Random strangers were exchanging information and asking, "Did you hear?  The World Trade Center came down.  Both buildings!"  I couldn't believe it, but sadly, it was true. When I walked past the White House I saw something I had never seen before - numerous very big men with very big guns. I'm sure they were always there in hiding, but this is the first time I had seen them out in the open like that.

It wasn't till I got home and turned on the TV, that I was able to see the full horror of what happened that day. I know that everyone has their own story from the day.  Mine certainly isn't heroic, or tragic, except as part of the national tragedy. The next day when I went to work it was the exact opposite of the day before.  Instead of everyone talking, no one was talking.  Everyone sat or stood or walked in relative silence.  While waiting in the long line to enter the building, the result of them deciding to individually screen everyone, including employees, I looked up and saw the words engraved on the front of the IRS's facade, right over the main doors.

It's a quote from 1927 Supreme Court dissent by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. "Taxes are what we pay for civilized society."

We paid a lot more for civilized society that day.

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I have new clients, a same-sex couple. When interviewing them about their assets, they told me that they own their home as joint tenants with rights of survivorship (JTROS), and not as tenants-in-common (TIC).

In brief, the difference between the two are as follows.  If two people own property as JTROS, then upon the death of the first, his interest disappears and the entire property automatically becomes the sole property of the survivor. The property does not pass by will, or by trust.  It just "disappears."  If property is owned as TIC, then each person owns an undivided interest in the whole.  They also have the right to sell or dispose of their interest, during life or at death, without the consent of the other owner.

There are a number of reasons why a same-sex couple would want to own their home as JTROS over TIC. There are also a number of reasons as to why they would want to own their home as TIC over JTROS.  Before purchasing the home, they should have looked at a number of factors, including: the value of their home, the size of their taxable estates (if there is a taxable estate), how much each person was contributing to the purchase, whether or not they have minor children, who are their potential creditors, and what are their thoughts on the probate process.

Whether they should have chosen one of the other isn't the point of this post. They told me that they owned the property as JTROS, as that was their intention when they bought the property. One thing I've learned through practicing law is that just because a client thinks something is true, doesn't mean that it is actually true. So I went to the Broward County Recorder of Deeds website and looked it up.

The first thing I noticed was that the deed was prepared by a title company and not an attorney, and the second thing I noticed is that the title company screwed it up.

The deed is between "Developer,a Florida Limited Partnership, grantor" and "X, a single man and Y, a single man, grantee"  Other than that, there is no indication whatsoever as to how X and Y are to own the property, i.e. as JTROS or as TIC. The deed was silent as to whether or not the transfer was supposed to be to them as tenants in common, or as joint tenants with rights of survivorship.

Florida Statute 689.15 provides, "The doctrine of the right of survivorship in cases of real estate and personal property held by joint tenants shall not prevail in this state; that is to say, except in cases of estates by entirety, a devise, transfer, or conveyance heretofore or hereafter made to two or more shall create a tenancy in common, unless the instrument creating the estate shall expressly provide for the right of survivorship."

In other words, when a deed is silent as to whether or not there are survivorship rights, then, except in cases of tenancy by the entirety, it is treated as a tenancy in common without survivorship rights. Tenancy by the entirety only exists when there is a transfer to a husband and wife.  So if the intention was for the transfer to them be as JTROS, then it had to actually say, to X and Y as joint tenants with rights of survivorship, or similar language.

Here is how and why the title company screwed this up.  Most of their deeds are to married couples, a husband and wife.  So, when some drone types the names of the purchasers in the computer program, "A and B a married couple," then that is treated as  a tenancy by the entirety with survivorship rights.  However, in this case, because my clients are not legally married, the title company typed in "X and single man and Y a single man."  Without thinking, and by not specifying what their intention was, the title company allowed the state to choose for them, and in a way contrary to what the clients wanted.

Now, if one of my clients dies before his documents hare done, his interest in the house will pass by intestacy to his family, and not to his partner who lives there.

Nice job, Title Company.

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