“Most people haven’t done the books.”

The terms we eventually put in front of him were these: he kept Vernon and its mortgage and the Corolla.

I took Alder and its mortgage and the Honda.

Liquid savings split down the middle.

His retirement divided by court order on the marital portion.

The 529s untouched, with both of us contributing.

Joint legal custody, primary residence with me, alternate weekends and half of every school break, and child support calculated by the state’s formula, which is a number a computer produces and which is not negotiable no matter how loudly anyone would like it to be.

Luca’s first response, through his lawyer, was to dispute the child support formula.