Parental rights - District of Columbia
Parental rights in District of Columbia
3 of 3 questions have been reviewed for District of Columbia. A question shown as "Not yet reviewed" makes no claim either way.
Educational reference, not legal advice. Nothing here creates an attorney-client relationship. Family law is state-specific and it changes: a statute or case cited here may have been amended, repealed or overruled since the review date shown. Verify against the primary source before relying on anything on this page, and talk to a lawyer licensed in your state about your own situation.
When a non-parent or the state asks a court to override a fit parent's decision about their child, what must they show?
District of Columbia: Fit-parent presumption, rebuttable
Statute: D.C. Code secs. 16-831.05 to 16-831.07
This row covers third-party custody, not visitation. Unless a parent consents, the District presumes that custody with the parent is in the child's best interests. The third party must rebut that by clear and convincing evidence of abandonment or a parent unwilling or unable to care for the child, detriment to the child's physical or emotional well-being, or exceptional circumstances the court details in writing. A parent's lack of financial means does not count.
Authority
- D.C. Code sec. 16-831.05(a) Statute
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.
- D.C. Code sec. 16-831.06(b) Statute
The third party seeking custody shall bear the burden of rebutting the parental presumption by clear and convincing evidence.
- D.C. Code sec. 16-831.07(a), (b) Statute
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 custody with a parent is or would be detrimental to the physical or emotional well-being of the child; or (3) That exceptional circumstances, detailed in writing by the court, support rebuttal of the presumption favoring parental custody. ... The court shall not consider a parent's lack of financial means in determining whether the presumption favoring parental custody has been rebutted.
Can parents' own custody or child-support agreement bind them without a judge approving it?
District of Columbia: Court approval required to bind
Statute: D.C. Code sec. 16-916.01(o)
This row covers child support only; custody agreements were not reviewed for it. A consent order or agreement on support is compared with the guideline. If it differs, the judicial officer must decide whether the agreed amount is fair and just and must justify the departure in writing.
Authority
- D.C. Code sec. 16-916.01(o) Statute
the judicial officer shall examine the child support provisions of the agreement, and compare the child support provisions to the guideline. If the amount of child support agreed upon is different from the amount of child support that would be ordered presumptively upon application of the guideline, the judicial officer shall determine if the agreed-upon level of child support is fair and just. ... The propriety of a departure from the guideline based on the consent of the parties shall be justified in writing with a statement of the factors that form the basis for the judicial officer's finding that the departure is fair and just.
One parent enrols the child in daycare, an activity or a private school without the other's agreement. Must the other parent pay a share?
District of Columbia: Child care share limited to work or education related cost
Statute: D.C. Code sec. 16-916.01(k)
Reasonable child care incurred because of either parent's employment or education is divided in proportion to income. The amount follows the family's actual experience unless that is not in the child's best interest, in which case it is set from the cost of licensed care.
Authority
- D.C. Code sec. 16-916.01(k) Statute
Reasonable child care expenses incurred for a child subject to the support order due to the employment or education of either parent shall be divided between the parents in proportion to their adjusted gross incomes and added to their respective shares of the basic child support obligation. Child care expenses shall be determined by actual family experience, unless the judicial officer determines that the actual family experience is not in the best interest of the child.
How this was checked
Every citation here was checked against the primary source rather than a summary. U.S. Supreme Court quotes come from the official United States Reports PDFs published by the Library of Congress, and the reporter page shown is the page the quoted words actually print on. State case quotes come from the Caselaw Access Project's page-anchored text of the official reporter. Statutes and regulations are quoted from the issuing legislature's or agency's own site. Quotes are normalised to plain ASCII, which changes punctuation only, never words. Holdings are distinguished from dicta and from concurrences and dissents, which bind nobody, and contrary authority is included and labelled. Not yet reviewed is NOT a finding: it means nobody has read that jurisdiction's law for this question yet, and such a row carries no claim at all. No authority found is a different and weaker statement: a search was run and turned up nothing on point, which is not proof that nothing exists.
Dataset last reviewed 2026-10-17.