We have gathered a sample of 112 main-sequence stars with known debris disks .
We collected published information and performed adaptive optics observations at Lick Observatory to determine if these debris disks are associated with binary or multiple stars .
We discovered a previously unknown M-star companion to HD 1051 at a projected separation of 628 AU .
We found that 25 \pm 4 % of our debris disk systems are binary or triple star systems , substantially less than the expected \sim 50 % .
The period distribution for these suggests a relative lack of systems with 1–100 AU separations .
Only a few systems have blackbody disk radii comparable to the binary/triple separation .
Together , these two characteristics suggest that binaries with intermediate separations of 1–100 AU readily clear out their disks .
We find that the fractional disk luminosity , as a proxy for disk mass , is generally lower for multiple systems than for single stars at any given age .
Hence , for a binary to possess a disk ( or form planets ) it must either be a very widely separated binary with disk particles orbiting a single star or it must be a small separation binary with a circumbinary disk .