District of Columbia

All states

Luck of the Draw score: 95 out of 100

D.C. leaves nearly all of the money to the judge: marital property is split on an open-ended fairness standard, alimony amount and length follow only a list of factors, and the reasons for the breakup may count in both. Premarital, gifted and inherited property stays with its owner. On the book’s scale, 0 is a contract you can read and 100 is one that mostly says “ask the judge.” District of Columbia ranks 45 of 51, counting from the state that leaves the least to the judge. How the index works, and every state’s score.

Part	Score	The rule, and where it comes from
Property	15 / 20	The court assigns each spouse’s premarital, gifted and inherited property to that spouse and divides all other property and debt acquired during the marriage in a manner that is equitable, just and reasonable after considering listed factors, with no presumption of equal division. D.C. Code § 16-910(a)(1)-(2)
Alimony	20 / 20	The court may order either party to pay alimony if it seems just and proper, in an amount and for an indefinite or limited term set by weighing listed factors, with no formula or cap. D.C. Code § 16-913(a), (b), (d)
Fault	20 / 20	Both the property factors and the alimony factors include the circumstances that contributed to the estrangement of the parties, including any history of physical, emotional or financial abuse, so marital fault may be considered in both. D.C. Code § 16-910(a)(2)(L); § 16-913(d)(5)
Lawyers’ fees	20 / 20	The court may require one spouse to pay suit money, including counsel fees, so that the other spouse can conduct the case, and the statute sets no presumption or formula for the award. D.C. Code § 16-911(a)(1); Tydings v. Tydings, 567 A.2d 886 (D.C. 1989)
Second opinion	20 / 20	A party can remove the assigned judge only by an affidavit stating the facts and reasons for a belief of bias, and the Domestic Relations rules contain no jury-demand rule for property or alimony. D.C. Super. Ct. Dom. Rel. R. 63-I; Dom. Rel. R. 38 (deleted) (not yet checked against the source)

Getting in

No waiting period. The District repealed its waiting period in 2014, and the D.C. Code sets no expiration date for a license. The Clerk of the Superior Court issues it after examining the applicant under oath. No one under 18 can get a license.
D.C. Code §§ 46-409 (repealed), 46-410, 46-411, 46-412

Who can marry you. Judges or retired judges of any court of record, the Clerk or designated deputies, clergy or authorized persons of any religion, civil celebrants, Council members, the Mayor, or the couple themselves may solemnize a marriage. The Clerk can authorize a temporary officiant for one specific marriage. The Code does not address online ordination and requires no witnesses.
D.C. Code §§ 46-406(a)-(b-2), 46-412

Common-law marriage: A couple can still become married here without a license. A couple can still form a common-law marriage in D.C. by living together after an express, present-tense agreement to be permanent partners with the commitment of spouses. Same-sex couples qualify, retroactively. Whether a relationship formed elsewhere is a marriage depends on the law of the place where it occurred.
Gill v. Van Nostrand, 206 A.3d 869 (D.C. 2019); Cerovic v. Stojkov, 134 A.3d 766 (D.C. 2016); Bansda v. Wheeler, 995 A.2d 189 (D.C. 2010)

Chapter 5 of the book covers getting in, and whether you are in at all.

The property system

District of Columbia is one of forty-one equitable distribution jurisdictions. Equitable distribution. Each of you owns what’s in your own name during the marriage. At a divorce a judge divides the marital property as the judge finds equitable, which is not a promise of half. Chapter 11 of the book covers what that means, and Chapter 22 covers what happens to it when you move.

What counts as marital. At the final decree, each spouse keeps sole and separate property owned before the marriage, plus gifts and inheritances received during it, along with any increase and what it was exchanged for. Everything else accumulated during the marriage is divided equitably, however titled. The judge may weigh whether an asset was acquired after separation.
D.C. Code § 16-910(a)

An inheritance that touches a joint account

Putting it in joint names usually makes it marital. Once separate property is put in joint names, for whatever reason, it loses its protected status and the judge can divide it. The court rejected tracing it back to separate money, though what each spouse contributed remains a factor. A later case also treats separate property physically blended with marital property as marital.
Turpin v. Turpin, 403 A.2d 1144 (D.C. 1979); Araya v. Keleta, 65 A.3d 40 (D.C. 2013); D.C. Code § 16-910(a)

Chapter 12 explains how mine becomes ours.

Your spouse’s medical bills (Article 5)

Both of you can be liable from the first dollar. By statute both spouses (and both domestic partners) are liable on any debt either incurs during the marriage or partnership for necessaries for either of them or for their dependent children.
D.C. Code § 46-601(b)(2)

Chapter 8 of the book explains the three ways states handle this.

If one of you dies (Article 9)

A surviving spouse or domestic partner may renounce the will within six months of probate and take the share he or she would have received in intestacy, capped at one-half of the net estate passing under the will. The share reaches only the probate estate, and dower and curtesy are abolished.
D.C. Code § 19-113(a), (e); D.C. Code § 19-102

Chapter 9 covers what a will can and can’t take away from a spouse.

Prenups and postnups (Article 12)

One look, under UPAA (1983), D.C. Code § 46-501 et seq. (extended to domestic partners). A premarital agreement is unenforceable only if not signed voluntarily, or if unconscionable when signed and the challenger lacked fair and reasonable disclosure, did not waive it in writing, and did not otherwise know the other’s finances. The Code treats a valid antenuptial or postnuptial agreement as controlling death rights, but no statutory enforcement standard for postnuptial agreements was found.
D.C. Code § 46-506(a); D.C. Code § 19-113(f)

What an agreement needs. The agreement must be in writing and signed by both parties and needs no consideration; the act has no notary, witness, waiting-period or counsel requirement. Disclosure matters through the unconscionability defense, and a court may order support despite a waiver that would leave a spouse or partner eligible for public assistance.
D.C. Code § 46-502; § 46-506(b)

Chapter 29 explains one look and two, and what makes agreements stick.

Children (Article 8)

Child support: income shares. The guideline uses both parents’ combined adjusted gross income and splits the obligation by each parent’s share. Support continues until 21. A court cannot compel support past 21, and the Court of Appeals has said an obligation to contribute to college expenses, unlike child support, is not required by law.
D.C. Code §§ 16-916.01(f), 46-101; Butler v. Butler, 496 A.2d 621 (D.C. 1985); Spence v. Spence, 266 A.2d 29 (D.C. 1970); Sollars v. Cully, 904 A.2d 373 (D.C. 2006)

Moving away with a child. No D.C. statute sets a relocation rule or notice period. The court applies the usual custody factors plus ten relocation factors, such as the reasons for the move and its effect on the other parent’s relationship. A parent seeking to modify an existing custody order must show a substantial and material change and carries the burden.
Estopina v. O’Brian, 68 A.3d 790 (D.C. 2013); D.C. Code § 16-914(a)(3), (f)

Chapter 17 covers the children.

Getting out (Article 2)

How long you must live here before filing: six months. One spouse must have been a bona fide D.C. resident for 6 months before filing. Exception: a same-gender couple married in D.C. can file without residency if neither lives somewhere that will hear the case. The rule does not depend on where the grounds arose. A service member living in D.C. for 6 continuous months counts as resident.
D.C. Code § 16-902

How long it takes. Since January 26, 2024, one spouse’s assertion that they no longer wish to remain married is enough, with no separation period. The decree takes effect 30 days after it is docketed unless a stay is sought. Both spouses can make it final at once by filing a joint waiver of appeal, which an objecting spouse would not do.
D.C. Code §§ 16-904(a), 16-920; D.C. Law 25-115

The legal minimum for a spouse who moves here alone and files as soon as allowed, with no minor children and the other spouse objecting, is about 210 days from arrival to a final decree (180 days of residence + 30 until the decree takes effect). Courts often take longer.

If you moved here from another state

The old state’s law has applied to a home there. Twice, when one spouse moved from Maryland to the District and a divorce was filed here, the D.C. Court of Appeals applied Maryland law to the couple’s Maryland home. In the first case it reasoned that the District’s only tie to the claim was providing the court.
Williams v. Williams, 390 A.2d 4 (D.C. 1978); Anderson v. Anderson, 449 A.2d 334 (D.C. 1982)

Chapter 22 covers what changes when you move.

Each entry on this page comes from the statute, rule or case it cites, read in September or November 2026, except where the entry says it has not been checked. A rule can change after that, and a rule on paper can play out differently in a particular courthouse. No lawyer reviews these pages.

If you practice family law in District of Columbia and would like to correct or contribute to this page, write to me.

Meanwhile

• The default contract, with the options states choose among. Read it with a District of Columbia lawyer, or paste it into a chatbot along with “I live in District of Columbia” and treat what comes back as a list of questions, not answers.
• Three contracts you could sign instead.
• A worksheet for reading it together, and every state’s Luck of the Draw score.
• Corrections, including changes in the law since the book went to press.
• About the book.