Updated September 1, 2026. Quick answer: The District of Columbia permits an alimony award to be indefinite or term-limited and structured to the facts.
This page is limited to the controlling District of Columbia alimony rule captured below. It does not substitute a generic gray-divorce checklist for the state-specific answer.
The state rule that changes the answer
- The District of Columbia permits an alimony award to be indefinite or term-limited and structured to the facts.
- An award may be retroactive to the filing date of the pleading that requests alimony.
- The listed considerations include self-support capacity, education or training time, marital standard of living, marriage duration, and each party's age and physical or mental condition.
Build the later-life review sheet
Copy each factor, threshold, formula, or procedure named in the controlling section into a separate field before comparing possible support structures. Do not add an input the source does not name.
Label each entry as eligibility, amount, duration, termination, or required finding, as applicable. That keeps a threshold rule from being presented as a guaranteed result.
Keep adjacent divorce questions with their owners
This page does not restate property-division, QDRO or pension, Social Security or Medicare, estate, divorce-statistics, or debt content.
Primary source and verification
The controlling source used here is D.C. Code § 16-913. Confirm the current official text and the facts of the order before acting; this is a source-backed planning guide, not individualized legal advice.