Problems of legal regulation in termination of the marriage in case law: experience of Lithuania

ENThe relevance of this study. In modern society, the topic of ending a marriage is relevant due to the increasing number of divorces. According to the data of the Department of Statistics in 2019 8.7 thousand divorces were registered in Lithuania. The number of divorces in the courts of first instance was 8,641 in 2020. Most cases, i. y. 7313 cases were obtained for divorce by mutual consent of both spouses. There were 1263 cases of divorce due to the fault of one or both spouses, and 65 cases of divorce at the request of one spouse. In 2020 15.2 thousand were registered marriages and even 7.4 thousand of divorces. The high number of divorces reveals that couples use the institution of divorce. For this reason, the divorce process must not only be properly regulated but also properly understood. It should be noted that not only the spouses and their children, but also society suffer the negative consequences of the end of the marriage. The dissolution of a marriage, as a separate family institution, covers cases “in which one spouse dies or is declared dead by a court”, as well as divorce “by mutual consent of both spouses, at the request of one spouse or through the fault of the spouses”. The death of a spouse is a clear basis for ending a marriage, but the other three cases of divorce require deeper and more detailed analysis and discussion. The main problems. An analysis of the institution of divorce reveals the following problems: first, when the courts consider the possibility of derogating from the principle of equal shares of the spouses’ common property, an unjustifiably higher share of property is often awarded to one spouse upon divorce.Secondly, the divorce of one of the spouses in the event of the spouse’s appearance gives rise to contentious situations concerning the spouse’s rights to surviving property. Third, divorce through the fault of one spouse raises problems in proving and establishing the fault of the spouse. The following tasks: 1. To examine the legal acts regulating the dissolution of a marriage, individual cases of divorce, the procedure and procedures, the possibilities of conciliation of spouses and the legal consequences of divorce. 2. To compare the case law of national and international courts in identifying the problems arising from the institution of divorce. 3. Based on the data of the performed analysis, to submit proposals for the improvement of the legal regulation of the institute of divorce. The aim of this work to reveal the problems of legal regulation of the institute of divorce based on the mechanism of regulation of family law. The paper concluded the issue of divorce raises legal issues such as unjustified deviation of the courts from the principle of equal share of the spouses’ common property, divorce, the uncertainty of the spouse’s divorce through the fault of one of the spouses, and the exercise of the right to surviving property, when a spouse who has been declared dead appears.The novelty ofthe analyzed topic is manifested in the fact that in the work analyzing the research of Lithuanian and foreign scientists and the rich practice of Lithuanian and international courts, the problematic aspects and topicalities of this institute are distinguished.This work may be relevant to legal doctrine for a thorough analysis of case law and legislation, revealing issues related to divorce cases. It is hoped that the researchers and practitioners, using the results obtained in this thesis, will be able to analyze the issues of this topic more smoothly in search of more rational solutions. Asthe result itisquite common for case law in the case of divorce to encounter problematic situations where the aim is to deviate from the principle of equal shares of the spouses’ joint property. On this basis, the court also applies to the court sometime after the divorce, as well as to the court for the principle of deviation from the principle of equal shares of the spouses.Theused methodology systematic analysis, document analysis, comparative analysis, logical – analytical and meta – analysis methods. Keywords: divorce, spouses, spouses’ property, marriage. [From the publication]