Although same sex couples cannot be married in the District of Columbia, The DC Council has voted to recognize gay marriages performed in other states.  This is a preliminary vote with the final vote expected May 5th.  However, DC laws must be approved by Congress.

“I fully support today’s action and look forward to signing the legislation once the Council takes final action next month,” said DC Mayor Adrian Fenty.

The vote occurred on the same day as Vermont recognized same-sex marriages and a week after Iowa legalized them.

DC already has a domestic partnership law.  A bill to allow same-sex marriages in DC is expected soon.  Virginia and Maryland do not recognize same-sex marriages.

Read more.

Interrogatories are written questions that must be answered under oath.  The number of interrogatories you can ask are limited in the three local jurisdictions.

• Maryland.  Thirty interrogatories.
• Virginia.  Thirty interrogatories.
• District of Columbia.  Forty interrogatories.

Responses are due in writing within a certain time period in compliance with the Court Rules.

• Maryland.  Thirty days from service plus three for mailing.
• Virginia.  Twenty days from service plus three for mailing.
• District of Columbia.  Thirty days from service plus three for mailing.

We used to only have fault grounds for divorce like adultery, desertion and cruelty. Maryland and Virginia have added no fault grounds based on a period of physical separation. DC has done away with fault grounds and gone all the way to no fault grounds.

Maryland has the longest waiting period for a no fault divorce. It is one year if you both agree and two years if one of you does not agree.

Virginia is six months if there are no children and a full agreement, otherwise one year.

D.C. is six months if you both agree, and one year if one of you disagrees.

Here is a chart showing the waiting requirements in all the states. Interestingly, there is no correlation between waiting period and number of divorces. DC still has the lowest divorce rate at 1.7 per thousand people.