Can we truly distinguish peaceful divorces from conflictual ones? Which mechanisms are at play in choosing a procedural form? Based on a study of the legal practice of the French divorce for just cause and the Hungarian no-fault divorce, this article reveals that the legal form that the disunion will take is never really fixed as long as the dissolution of the marriage has not been pronounced. Indeed, spouses alternate or hold talks concurrently in view of a divorce by mutual agreement and confrontation in view of a contentious divorce, depending on the failure or the success of their negotiations related to post-divorce arrangements. However, if agreement or discord on the effects of the divorce appear to generate an overall agreement or discord, the consequences of the divorce are not likely to be the only drivers of the procedures, which may also be influenced by expectations with respect to recognition of responsibilities in de marital breakdown.