Protection of creditors’ interests in an extrajudicial dissolution

Abstract

Modern society increasingly adopts the products of companies, institutions, and organizations that provide credit services in order to meet its needs and improve general quality of life, as a result of which, when terminating a marriage, questions of a mandatory nature often arise, related to the determination of the nature of the obligations of the spouses and their division between the spouses, hence in divorce cases it is not uncommon for a third party to appear – a creditor whose interests must also be protected. In family relations cases, the protection of the public interest dominates, because the protection of the legal interests of the spouses as well as the creditors must be guaranteed, also the proportionality of the protection of the legal interests protected by the law between the parties has to be achieved, because everyone has the right to defend their violated rights, and the state must ensure the protection of these legal interests. The article discusses the protection of creditors in the divorce process in the countries of the European Union, Estonia, Latvia, Slovenia, Luxembourg, in which legal systems the possibility of ending a marriage out of court exists, also the assumptions made in the national legal acts and their application practice, ensuring the protection of creditors and distinguishing its implementation problematic aspects in the civil process, are assessed, as well as the analysis of the Republic of Lithuania’s 2023 January 1 amendments to the Civil Code related to divorce outside of court entered into force is performed.