Joseph:
Sorry, but my experience guides me to make observations about what is occurring, you know, reality. Division of assets is not so simple, and batei din do not dismiss matters with the slight of hand that you imply. No two cases are the same, and generalizing leads to mistakes. I could give you several examples, and if you want them, I’ll jot them down.
Custody is complicated, as you note. But Hilchos Gittin does not address a lot of it. Let’s examine this. Shulchan Aruch (Even Ho’ezer 71) speaks about child support. It states that this ends when the male child is 6 years old. However, the Rema specifies that this is culturally determined, and that chachomim of the generation establish the norms for this. Today, this varies between 18-21. Tuition expenses for boys are completely the father’s responsibility, and there is no reference that caps an age limit. I do not recall a reference in Shulchan Aruch regarding visitation, yet it is normative halacha to set a schedule for this. A major complicating factor is that batei din do not have legal authority to pasken matters related to custody, and in many states, they have no input on child support either. I don’t know whether it is the letter or the spirit of the law, but batei din seek to comply with the legal authority they have. That is why they try hard to make their psak halacha based on an agreement, which can sometimes be more binding that the arbitration decision from a BD.
So nothing is simple. Hilchos Gittin includes a great deal of vagueness with regards to “halacha lema’aseh. Engaging in the process of determining what is the best settlement requires skill, patience, and the ability to balance many issues, halacha among them.
Let’s give an example. Batei din and rabbonim often permit a side in a marital dispute to take the matter to secular court (I am not addressing those who go without a heter). There can be a number of reasons for this. Not everyone complies with psak beis din. Not every matter belongs in BD either. We can blindly jump up in protest, “How dare you go to court!” But that is infantile if the facts are not known. I say the same about your dismissal of the complexity in divorce cases, based on Hilchos Gittin.