If a check is presented to our bank made out to:

Joan Smith
Dave Smith

with no "and" or "or" are both signatures required? My gut says yes, but we have been having a debate here, and since I have never worked in Retail Banking, I wanted to get some outside thoughts.

Thank you.

We have always treated checks made out this way as requiring 1 signature. It was explained to me that unless the check had "and" between the payees it was understood to mean "OR".

Endorsements are covered under the UCC. Check your states UCC and it will explain the requirement for endorsement for checks however they are drawn.