Common law marriage in D.C. is a fully valid marriage formed without a license or ceremony when two people who are legally free to marry agree, in the present tense, that they are married and then live together as spouses. Once that happens, the relationship carries the same rights and obligations as any ceremonial marriage, and the only way out is a formal divorce.
D.C. is one of roughly ten U.S. jurisdictions that still recognize new common law marriages. Because the legal consequences are identical to those of a licensed marriage, it is worth understanding exactly how one is formed before you find yourself in one.
Who Can Form a Common Law Marriage
Both partners must be legally capable of marrying under the same rules that govern ceremonial marriages in D.C. That means both are at least 18, neither is currently married to someone else, and the two are not closely related by blood or marriage.1D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code Title 46 Chapter 4 – Marriage
A relationship that violates any of these rules is void from the start. If one partner was still married to someone else when the common law relationship began, cohabitation and mutual intent will not create a valid second marriage. The prior marriage has to end by death or divorce first.1D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code Title 46 Chapter 4 – Marriage
Same-sex couples can form common law marriages on the same terms as opposite-sex couples. The D.C. Court of Appeals confirmed in Spellman v. Kelly (2016) that the common law marriage doctrine applies to same-sex couples, including relationships that predated D.C.’s 2010 marriage equality statute.1D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code Title 46 Chapter 4 – Marriage
The Two Elements That Create the Marriage
D.C. courts require two things: an express mutual agreement to be married in the present tense, followed by cohabitation. These standards come from case law rather than a specific statute.2Social Security Administration. POMS PR 05605.010 – District of Columbia
A Present-Tense Agreement to Be Married
The agreement has to be explicit and mutual, and it has to mean “we are married now,” not “we will get married someday.” An engagement, a plan to have a wedding next year, or a vague understanding about the future does not count. There is no required script or formula. You do not need rings or vows. But the words have to reflect a commitment to a permanent union that can only be ended the way any marriage ends: by death or divorce. A relationship either partner can simply walk away from, without legal process, does not meet the standard.2Social Security Administration. POMS PR 05605.010 – District of Columbia
Cohabitation as Spouses
The second element is living together as spouses. D.C. sets no minimum duration, so there is no magic number of months or years. But sharing an address as roommates is not enough on its own. The living arrangement has to reflect a marital relationship combined with the mutual agreement above.
Holding yourselves out publicly as married strengthens the picture. Introducing each other as spouses, using the same last name, and being generally known in your community as married are all factors a court will weigh when deciding whether a common law marriage exists.
Proving the Marriage Later
The hard part is usually proof. When the question arises in a divorce, an inheritance dispute, or a benefits claim, the person asserting the marriage has to prove it by a preponderance of the evidence. D.C. courts have said these claims should be “closely scrutinized,” especially when one partner has died and the survivor stands to gain financially.2Social Security Administration. POMS PR 05605.010 – District of Columbia
Documentation that shows the couple treated themselves as married is the strongest evidence. Useful records include:
- Joint federal or D.C. income tax returns filed as married
- Health, life, or employer benefits forms naming each other as spouse
- Joint bank accounts, joint credit cards, or co-signed loans
- Shared ownership of a home, a joint lease, or both names on a car title
Witness testimony also matters. Friends, family, coworkers, and neighbors can speak to how you introduced yourselves, whether you shared a last name, and how your community understood the relationship. D.C.’s divorce factsheet notes that without a marriage certificate, a common law marriage plaintiff “must prove the marriage through testimony of friends and family, or through documents.”3LawHelp.org/DC. Divorce in Washington D.C. Factsheet
A couple that has been quietly living together for years with no paper trail and no public acknowledgment of the relationship as a marriage faces an uphill battle. Building that documentation while the relationship is healthy is far easier than reconstructing it in a courtroom later.
What You Get From a Common Law Marriage
Once established, a D.C. common law marriage is legally identical to a licensed one. Every right, benefit, and obligation of marriage applies.
Property and Alimony if You Divorce
A D.C. court divides property using equitable distribution. It separates each spouse’s individual property, such as assets owned before the marriage or received as a gift or inheritance, and then distributes the remaining marital property and debt in a way that is “equitable, just, and reasonable.” The court weighs the length of the marriage, each spouse’s income and earning potential, contributions as a homemaker, and each spouse’s role in acquiring or depleting marital assets.4D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code 16-910 – Assignment and Equitable Distribution of Property
Alimony is available on the same terms as in any divorce. A court can order either spouse to pay support if it finds doing so “just and proper,” and the award can be indefinite or limited to a set period. Factors include each spouse’s ability to be self-supporting, the standard of living during the marriage, the marriage’s duration, and each spouse’s age and health.5D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code 16-913 – Alimony
Inheritance
If your common law spouse dies without a will, D.C.’s intestacy law gives you a share of the estate. The share depends on whether your spouse left children or surviving parents, and ranges from one-half up to the entire estate when no children or parents survive.6D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code 19-302 – Share of Spouse or Domestic Partner
These shares apply only to the intestate estate, meaning property not already directed somewhere by a beneficiary designation, a trust, or joint ownership.
Healthcare Decisions
If your spouse becomes incapacitated and has not signed a durable power of attorney for healthcare, you are second in the priority list, after any court-appointed guardian, to make medical decisions on their behalf. That authority covers granting, refusing, or withdrawing consent for any healthcare service, treatment, or procedure.7D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code 21-2210 – Substituted Consent
Federal Taxes
The IRS recognizes any marriage that is valid under the law of the jurisdiction where it was established, so a D.C. common law marriage lets you file federal taxes as married filing jointly or married filing separately. Your filing status is based on your marital status on the last day of the tax year.8Internal Revenue Service. Filing Status
Social Security
The Social Security Administration also recognizes valid common law marriages for spousal and survivor benefits. The SSA looks for the same core elements D.C. courts require: a mutual present-tense agreement, cohabitation, and legal capacity to marry, with the marriage established in a jurisdiction that recognizes common law marriage.9Social Security Administration. POMS GN 00305.060 – Common-Law Marriage General
If You Move Out of D.C.
Under the Full Faith and Credit Clause, a marriage validly formed in one jurisdiction has to be recognized by other states.10Library of Congress. Constitution Annotated – Article IV Section 1 A common law marriage that meets D.C.’s requirements should therefore be treated as valid if you move to Virginia, Maryland, or anywhere else, even if the new state does not allow common law marriages to be formed within its own borders.
If the marriage’s validity is ever questioned in the new state, you will still have to show it met D.C.’s requirements at the time it was formed. One more reason to keep your documentation.
Children and Parentage
A child born to a married couple in D.C. generally benefits from a legal presumption that both spouses are the child’s parents, and that presumption applies to common law spouses the same way it applies to ceremonially married couples. The D.C. Office of the Attorney General cautions, however, that because proving a common law marriage is “very stringent,” the safest approach is to establish parentage through a Voluntary Acknowledgment of Paternity (AOP) or a court order.11Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia. Parentage and Paternity – Marriage and Domestic Partnerships
The AOP can be completed at the hospital right after the child is born and allows both parents’ names on the birth certificate without a court proceeding. For common law couples, this small step heads off any later dispute about whether the marriage was ever established and, by extension, whether both partners are the child’s legal parents.12Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia. Parentage and Paternity – Unwed Parents
How to End a Common Law Marriage
You cannot end a common law marriage by moving out, dropping a shared last name, or telling people you are no longer together. Because it is a legally binding marriage, it ends only through a formal divorce in the D.C. Superior Court, under the same process that applies to any married couple.
At least one spouse must have lived in D.C. continuously for six months before filing the complaint.13D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code 16-902 – Residency Requirements for Divorce D.C. is a no-fault jurisdiction, so either spouse can obtain a divorce by asserting that they no longer wish to be married. No proof of wrongdoing or minimum separation period is required.14D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code 16-904 – Grounds for Divorce, Legal Separation, and Annulment
The court addresses property division, alimony, and child custody and support as part of the case. The final decree does not take effect immediately. It becomes final 30 days after it is entered on the court’s docket, unless a party appeals or both parties file a joint waiver to make it effective right away.15D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code 16-920 – Effective Date of Decree or Judgment for Annulment or Absolute Divorce
Until that decree is final, you remain legally married. You cannot remarry, and the obligations that come with marriage, including potential liability for your spouse’s debts or decisions, continue. Couples who separate informally without ever divorcing sometimes find years later that their common law marriage created entanglements they never resolved.