Alimony and Spousal Support in District of Columbia

When a divorce or legal separation is granted, the court may order either spouse to pay alimony if it seems just and proper. Alimony may be indefinite or for a set term, and may be retroactive to the filing date of the request. Factors include the requesting spouse's ability to be self-supporting, time needed for education or training, the marital standard of living (recognizing there will be two households), the length of the marriage, circumstances of the breakdown including abuse, each spouse's age and health, the payer's ability to pay, and each spouse's income, assets, obligations and retirement rights. The statute sets no formula.

D.C. uses equitable distribution. Unless a valid prenuptial or postnuptial agreement resolves property, the court assigns each spouse their separate property: property owned before the marriage, gifts and inheritances received during the marriage, any increase in them, and property acquired in exchange for them. All other property and debt accumulated during the marriage is divided in an equitable, just and reasonable way, regardless of whose name is on the title, considering factors such as the length of the marriage, each spouse's age, health, income, skills, assets, debts and needs, custody arrangements, contributions as a homemaker or to the other's education, dissipation of assets, taxes, and circumstances leading to the breakdown, including physical, emotional or financial abuse.