Title 16, Particular Actions, Proceedings and Matters. [Enacted title]

(a) Records sealed on grounds of actual innocence pursuant to § 16-802 shall be opened only on order of the Court upon a showing of compelling need; except, that upon request, the movant, or the authorized representative of the movant, shall be entitled to a copy of the sealed re…

This chapter does not supersede any other provision of the District of Columbia Official Code providing for the expungement, sealing, or setting aside of criminal arrests or convictions.

For the purposes of this chapter, the term: (1) “De facto parent” means an individual: (A) Who: (i) Lived with the child in the same household at the time of the child’s birth or adoption by the child’s parent; (ii) Has taken on full and permanent responsibilities as the child’s …

(a)(1) A third party may file a complaint for custody of a child or a motion to intervene in any existing action involving custody of the child under any of the following circumstances: (A) The parent who is or has been the primary caretaker of the child within the past 3 years c…

(a) A de facto parent may file a complaint for custody of a child or a motion to intervene in any existing action involving custody of the child. (b) An individual who establishes that he or she is a de facto parent by clear and convincing evidence shall be deemed a parent for th…

(a) A custody order entered under this chapter may include any of the following: (1) Sole legal custody to the third party; (2) Sole physical custody to the third party; (3) Joint legal custody between the third party and a parent; (4) Joint physical custody between the third par…

(a) Except when a parent consents to the relief sought by the third party, there is a rebuttable presumption in all proceedings under this chapter that custody with the parent is in the child’s best interests. (b) If the court grants custody of the child to a third party over par…

(a) The court shall award custody of the child to the third party upon determining: (1) The presumption in favor of parental custody has been rebutted; and (2) Custody with the third party is in the child’s best interests. (b) The third party seeking custody shall bear the burden…

(a) To determine that the presumption favoring parental custody has been rebutted, the court must find, by clear and convincing evidence, one or more of the following factors: (1) That the parents have abandoned the child or are unwilling or unable to care for the child; (2) That…

(a) In determining whether custody with a third party, pursuant to this chapter, is in the child’s best interests, the court shall consider all relevant factors, including: (1) The child’s need for continuity of care and caretakers, and for timely integration into a stable and pe…

(a)(1) During the pendency of any proceeding under this chapter, the court may determine, in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, the custody of the child pending final determination of that issue. (2) The pendente lite hearing shall be held no later than 30 days after…

An order awarding physical or legal custody of a child to a third party shall not terminate the parent and child relationship, including: (1) The right of the child to inherit from his or her parent; (2) The parent’s right to visit or contact the child, except as limited by court…

(a) An award of custody to a third party under this chapter may be modified or terminated upon the motion of any party, or on the court’s own motion, upon a determination that there has been a substantial and material change in circumstances and that the modification or terminati…

The court shall retain jurisdiction to enforce, modify, or terminate a custody order issued under this chapter, subject to the provisions of Chapter 46 of this title, until the child reaches 18 years of age.

Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to limit the ability of any person to seek custody of a child under any other statutory, common law, or equitable cause of action or to preempt any authority of the court to hear and adjudicate custody claims under the court’s common law…

For the purposes of this chapter, the term: (1) “Cash medical support” means an amount ordered to be paid toward the cost of health insurance provided by a public entity or by another parent, through employment or otherwise, or for extraordinary medical expenses as defined in § 1…

(a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, no action for divorce or legal separation shall be maintainable unless one of the parties to the marriage has been a bona fide resident of the District of Columbia for at least 6 months next preceding the commencement of t…

A decree annulling the marriage as illegal and void may be rendered on any of the grounds specified by sections 46-401.01 and 46-403 as invalidating a marriage.

(a) A divorce from the bonds of marriage may be granted if: (1) both parties to the marriage have mutually and voluntarily lived separate and apart without cohabitation for a period of six months next preceding the commencement of the action; (2) both parties to the marriage have…

(a) The court may revoke its decree of legal separation at any time, upon the joint application of the parties to be discharged from the operation of the decree. (b) The court may enlarge its decree of legal separation to an absolute divorce upon application of the party to whom …

Where a legal separation has been decreed the court may afterwards decree an absolute divorce between the parties for any cause arising since the first decree and sufficient to entitle the complaining party to the second decree.

(a) The term “legitimate” or “legitimated” means that the parent-child relationship exists for all rights, privileges, duties, and obligations under the laws of the District of Columbia. (b) The term “born out of wedlock” solely describes the circumstances that a child has been b…

A child is the legitimate child of any parent under which a parent-child relationship is established pursuant to § 16-909, and is the legitimate relative of its parents’ relatives by blood or adoption and entitled to all rights, privileges, duties, and obligations under the laws …

(a) A father-child relationship is established by an adjudication of a man’s parentage, by operation of subsection (e) of this section, or by an unrebutted presumption under this subsection. There shall be a presumption that a man is the father of a child: (1) if he and the child…

(a) Paternity may be established by: (1) A written statement of the father and mother signed under oath (which may include signature in the presence of a notary) that acknowledges paternity; provided, that before the parents sign the acknowledgment, both have been given written a…

The District of Columbia government shall give full faith and credit to the determinations of parentage made by other states, whether established through voluntary acknowledgment or through an administrative or judicial process.

(a) For the purposes of this section, the term “birthing hospital” means a hospital that has an obstetric care unit or provides obstetric services, or a birthing center. (b)(1) Each public and private birthing hospital in the District of Columbia shall operate a program that, imm…

(a) The Registrar of Vital Records shall offer to any person seeking to file or amend a birth certificate that does not include the names of 2 parents: (1) Written materials concerning paternity establishment; (2) Forms necessary to acknowledge paternity voluntarily that meet the…

The Mayor is authorized to establish voluntary paternity establishment services at entities other than hospitals, or the Vital Records Office, by publishing a notice of such location in the D.C. Register. The Mayor may only designate entities that meet the applicable federal requ…

Upon entry of a final decree of legal separation, annulment, or divorce, or upon the termination of a domestic partnership pursuant to § 32-702(d) or § 16-904(e) and the filing of a petition for relief available under this section, in the absence of a valid antenuptial or postnup…

(a) During the pendency of an action for legal separation, divorce, the termination of a domestic partnership pursuant to § 32-702(d) or § 16-904(e), where one of the domestic partners has filed a petition for relief available under this section, or an action by a spouse to decla…

(a) When a divorce or legal separation is granted, or when a termination of a domestic partnership becomes effective under § 32-702(d) or § 16-904(e) and one partner has filed a petition for relief available under this section, the Court may require either party to pay alimony to…

(a)(1)(A) In any proceeding between parents in which the custody of a child is raised as an issue, the best interest of the child shall be the primary consideration. The race, color, national origin, political affiliation, sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression…

After the issuance of a judgment, decree, or order granting custody, child support, or alimony, the Court retains jurisdiction for the entry of future orders modifying or terminating the initial judgment, decree, or order to the extent the retention of jurisdiction does not contr…

(a)(1) A deploying parent may file a motion with the court to request an expedited hearing for the purpose of obtaining a temporary child custody or visitation order when no court order exists as to the custody or visitation of the child of the deploying parent. (2) A deploying p…

Upon divorce from the bond of marriage, the court shall, on request of a party who assumed a new name on marriage and desires to discontinue using it, state in the decree of divorce either the birth-given or other previous name which such person desires to use.

(a) Whenever a spouse or domestic partner shall fail or refuse to maintain his or her needy spouse, domestic partner, minor children, or both, although able to do so, or whenever any parent shall fail or refuse to maintain his or her children by a marriage since dissolved, althou…

(a) In any case that involves the establishment of child support, or in any case that seeks to modify an existing support order, if the judicial officer finds that there is an existing duty of child support, the judicial officer shall conduct a hearing on child support, make a fi…

[APPENDICES I. Schedule of Basic Child Support Obligations, II. Worksheet A: Sole Physical Custody, and III. Worksheet B: Shared Physical Custody to follow.] Combined Adjusted Gross Income One Child Two Children Three Children Four or More Children 12,382 3,261 4,634 5,410 6,063 …

(a) There is established a Child Support Guideline Commission (“Commission”). The Commission shall study and make recommendations on the child support guidelines to the Mayor. (b) The Commission shall consist of a chairperson and 8 members who are District of Columbia residents. …

The court may consider child support matters, as it deems appropriate, in any proceeding to determine the care and custody of a minor child or children.

(a) In all cases under this chapter, where the court deems it necessary or proper, a disinterested attorney may be appointed by the court to enter his appearance for the defendant and actively defend the cause. (b) In any proceeding wherein the custody of a child is in question, …

A decree for a divorce, or a decree annulling a marriage, may not be rendered on default, without proof; and an admission contained in the answer of the defendant may not be taken as proof of the facts charged as the ground of the application, but shall be proved by other evidenc…

A decree or judgment annulling or dissolving a marriage, granting an absolute divorce, or terminating a domestic partnership, shall become effective to dissolve the bonds of matrimony or domestic partnership 30 days after the docketing of the decree or judgment unless either part…

When the validity of an alleged marriage is denied by either of the parties thereto the other party may institute an action for affirming the marriage, and upon due proof of the validity thereof the court shall decree it to be valid. The decree shall be conclusive upon all partie…

This chapter does not invalidate any marriage solemnized according to law before January 1, 1902, or any decree or judgment of divorce pronounced before that date.