Does a deed need to identify the owners as husband and wife in order to create a tenancy by the entirety, which would automatically pass title if one spouse dies? No, according to two Florida court decisions addressing that question. Provided that the owners are in fact husband and wife when they take title, and stay continuously married until one dies, a tenancy by the entirety is created unless the deed indicates otherwise (such as a deed expressly stating “tenants in common”). Fund Note 20.01.15 from Attorneys’ Title Insurance Fund, Inc., citing American Central Ins. Co. of St. Louis, Mo. v. Whitlock, 186 So. 380 (Fla. 1936) and Espenship v. Carter, 514 So. 2d 1108 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987), concludes that omission of the description “husband and wife” can be overcome by an affidavit of marital status where the two persons were in fact married.

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