The article is devoted to legal and social issues related to the termination of marriage by means of a divorce decree. The starting point for the analysis are the differences in the understanding of the principle of the integrity of the divorce decree, the scope of the divorce court’s jurisdiction, the nature of the divorce proceedings or the manner of appealing against the ruling in Polish and Lithuanian law. A divorce sentence in the family law system in Poland, as well as in the civil law system in Lithuania, is one of the ways of terminating a marriage. The analyzes carried out prove that the Lithuanian legislator adopts the principle of comprehensive settlement of marriage-related matters within one divorce proceeding, regardless of whether the proceedings are pending by mutual consent of the spouses or the court has to conduct complex proceedings and adjudicate on the guilt of the breakdown of the marriage. The same applies to the non-existence of the concept of „long time”, analogous to Polish regulations. An optional decision on the division of joint property as part of divorce proceedings in Lithuanian law depends on two exhaustively listed cases: special protection of the rights of the parties (e.g. the creditor) or other persons protected by law (e.g. minor children who would suffer as a result of the division of joint property).