She was hardly Jane Welch asking the divorce court for half of the $1 billion net worth of recently retired General Electric CEO Jack Welch; Karen Steel simply wanted a 50-50 split of what she and her soon-to-be ex-husband built up during a 25-year marriage.

Only later did she learn that she should have sought financial advice along with legal counsel before the settlement was final.

“We agreed on two years’ maintenance payments instead of alimony, we agreed to sell the house, we didn’t even fight over cars or furniture,” she recalled.

Unfortunately for Steel, most assets she was awarded were taxable while most of his were not, leaving her $50,000 the poorer on an after-tax basis.

Steel’s situation offers a case study in why “a 50-50 settlement isn’t always equal,” according to Violet Woodhouse, a Newport Beach, Calif., family lawyer, certified financial planner and author of “Divorce and Money.”

Carol Ann Wilson, a Boulder, Colo., certified financial planner and author of “The Financial Guide to Divorce Settlement,” founded the Institute for Certified Divorce Planners and College of Divorce Specialists to train financial advisers, accountants and lawyers in the financial aspects of divorce.

“I got into this to help prevent divorce, and if that’s not possible, to make sure there can be a fair settlement that takes care of both husband and wife when in many cases a so-called 50-50 split isn’t fair,” said Wilson, who developed software programs to run the numbers on possible asset divisions. “It saves money, saves stress and is easier on everyone when they can see if settlement plans are equitable.”

State laws spell out how to split marital assets and figure child and spousal support, but divorcing couples still have say over the details of how assets get divided along with other financial considerations ranging from how to deal with family debts to health insurance coverage and college savings.

Enter the digital divorce in which experts use software to sort through specific tax, pension, investment and alimony problems that aren’t readily apparent in settlement negotiations to see how each former partner stands to fare 10, 20 or 30 years out.

On the Internet, www.split-up.com, is an information clearinghouse launched by Harvard Law graduate turned software techie Daniel Caine of Newton, Mass., to let people contemplating divorce run “what if” computer simulations.

Computers aren’t the only change that’s come to divorce lately:

Members of the armed forces and foreign service are no longer “entitled” to keep their government pensions as a matter of law. Congress changed the rules so they’re now subject to division under state court divorce decrees.

(Federal law requires that anyone covered by Social Security be married for 10 years before they can claim any part of their ex-spouse’s Social Security benefits. Federal pension law forbids employers from assigning an employee’s pension to a former spouse without the proper divorce court documents.)

Former spouses who were named beneficiaries may stand to inherit an employee’s 401(k) plan or insurance policy unless the employee actively changed the heir’s name on the paperwork.

Executive pay with stock options, deferred compensation and pensions are even more complex than when another GE wife, Lorna Wendt, made headlines by fighting for half of ex-husband Gary’s share after 32 years of marriage. (He offered $10 million, the courts gave her $20 million, she’s fighting for half his $100 million net worth.)

It’s simple enough to split the 401(k) plans and Individual Retirement Accounts in half and set up new tax-sheltered accounts with a court order, but more complicated financial valuations may require help from a specialist.

Jane Welch, for instance, chose as her divorce attorney William Zabel; he’s the Manhattan lawyer who’s drafted divorce settlements, wills and trusts for a Who’s Who of Corporate America and recently conducted the American Bar Assn. session on valuing executive compensation in family law disputes.

Lorna Wendt went on to found the Institute for Equality in Marriage with its own www.equalityinmarriage.org Web site and wound up being named one of Worth Magazine’s top 10 people who influenced how Americans view money. She’s quick to say, however, “My case was never about the money,” it was about giving full participation to a marriage that was an economic and emotional partnership for 32 years.

As for Steel, her divorce settlement paid for her to go back to school, buy a condominium and start a business that’s finally in the black. She doesn’t regret the divorce anymore, just that “I didn’t know then what I know now about money and divorce.”