Matt Lauer Is Heading for a $100 Million Divorce: What's at Stake?
After 20 years of marriage, Matt Lauer and his estranged wife Annette Roque are on the brink of a divorce, a insider tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue.
And their split is not likely going to be a cheap one.
“The damage in this marriage can’t be fixed,” another source says.
The longtime Today host, 60, was fired from NBC last November for alleged inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace, putting more pressure on a long-strained marriage.
Indeed, Roque, 51, once filed for divorce from Lauer in 2006, citing “cruel and inhumane” behavior, though she withdrew the petition three weeks later.
Roque was once again “shopping for a divorce lawyer” in 2014, a legal source says.
Now that an official split is imminent, it won’t be simple for the couple to divide their considerable assets.
In November, Timeestimated Lauer’s earnings over his NBC career to be over $100 million; for the last few years of his career there, the New York Daily News reported his salary as $25 million annually.
The couple own a Hamptons mansion — where Roque currently lives with their three children and Lauer has been living in the guest house, according to a source — that they bought from Richard Gere in 2016 for $36.5 million.
They also own a nearby Sag Harbor home that’s currently on the market for $12.75 million, and a New York City townhouse that’s for sale for $7.35 million.
“Certainly if I were [Annette’s] lawyer I would be looking at getting something close to 50 percent” of their fortune, says New York-based divorce attorney Bernard Post, who is not involved in the case.
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“This is not going to get played out in the press,” says Judith Poller, who has handled divorces for celebrities like Drew Barrymore. “They’ll do everything quietly. My guess is she will get the Hamptons house and a chunk of cash, but no spousal support. He will pay child support.”
As for whether Lauer’s admission he cheated would change the amount of money Roque would get, Poller says no.
“New York is a no-fault state,” she says. “You would only get more than 50 percent if his conduct was so egregious that it shocked the conscience of the court. Cheating may be sleazy, but it’s not shocking.”
For more on Matt Lauer, pick up this week’s issue of PEOPLE, on stands Friday
Still, both lawyers agree the couple will likely keep things civil for the sake of their three young children.
“Sometimes people can be very angry with each other but still work together with respect to the children,” says Post.
