Splitting a fortune in divorce is harder than it looks, and the pain is less about the dollars than the lifestyle that disappears with them.

• Billionaire divorces mostly come down to money, even when kids and property are in play.
• Handing over half a fortune feels brutal to someone whose wealth has only ever gone up.
• A few hundred million still means losing the private jet and trading the $70 million house for a far smaller one.
• Lawyers who have worked both ends — poor clients and billionaires — see only two amounts of money: enough and not enough.
• If $100 million does not feel like enough, $200 million will not either; the finish line keeps moving.

Outlook: Big-money splits will keep ending in drawn-out fights, because the number that feels fair rises as fast as the fortune does.