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- If two people want to split up amicably, the easiest solution is to divide their assets equally, with each partner getting 0.5. But suppose that one partner goes to a lawyer who charges a fee f but promises to get more, by an amount m + f, leaving his client better off by the amount m. If this happens, then the second partner will get only 0.5 – m – f. If the second partner engages their own lawyer then the split is equal again, except that now the lawyers’ fees must be paid:
I don't buy it. Splitting things in half is easy if everything is liquid, but many assets are difficult to evaluate, and some are down right impossible to nail a specific value to (for example, what's is "worth" to not have to move and find a new house, while your partner doesn't?, or how much, if any, credit should one get for potentially not seeing one's children often?). The best case scenario is that the two spouses hire one lawyer who both trust. Of course, trust is the thing that's often missing and why the divorce is happening to begin with. But still, divorces are just a tad more complex than 0.5-f-m, both in absolute mathematical terms and emotional terms.