Here is an example. The requirements vary from state to state.
The property is homestead and is the sole property of the wife. The husband would execute the lease "pro forma" because one spouse cannot burden the homestead without the joiner of the spouse, even though they have no title to the property.
If this were the situation and I was acquiring the lease on behalf of the Lessee, I would not buy the lease without the joiner of the lease by the homestead spouse. It is a deal killer to me. I would have bought a bad lease, even though I bought a lease from the record title owner.
Another example: In the good old days in Louisiana, the wife could not convey her property without the joiner of the spouse, since "wimmen could not bother their silly little heads with things like bidness."
Buddy Cotten