Shannen Doherty Finalized Her Divorce A Day Before Her Death, After Long Bitter Court Battle

In the days before her death, Shannen Doherty reportedly decided to finalize her divorce from Kurt Iswarienko, agreeing to a waiver for spousal support and an uncontested dissolution of their marriage.

The late actress accused Iswarienko of prolonging the divorce and living extravagantly while she faced financial difficulties.

Shannen Doherty's death, after a long battle with cancer at age 53, was confirmed by her publicist on July 14, 2023.

According to court documents obtained by People magazine, Doherty, a day before her death, finalized her divorce from ex-husband Kurt Iswarienko.

The actress reportedly signed a waiver for spousal support on July 12 and agreed to a "default or uncontested dissolution" of their marriage, indicating that the divorce was settled amicably outside of court.

"The parties have entered into a written agreement regarding their property and their marriage or domestic partnership rights, including support, the original of which is being or has been submitted to the court," the documents read per the news outlet.

The following day, July 13, Iswarienko also signed the agreement, which was filed just before Doherty passed away at age 53. Her passing was announced by her publicist, Leslie Sloane, who confirmed the actress's death to the publication on July 14.

"It is with a heavy heart that I confirm the passing of actress Shannen Doherty. On Saturday, July 13, she lost her battle with cancer after many years of fighting the disease," Sloane stated. "The devoted daughter, sister, aunt, and friend was surrounded by her loved ones as well as her dog, Bowie. The family asks for their privacy at this time so they can grieve in peace."

Before her death, Doherty and Iswarienko were embroiled in a bitter divorce dispute, and earlier this month, she accused him of deliberately prolonging their divorce.

Doherty said, "It is simply not right that Kurt be permitted to prolong our divorce in hopes that I die before he is required to pay me while he continues to live his life and shirk his responsibilities to his dying wife of more than 11 years."

Iswarienko's attorney, Katherine Heersema, refuted these claims, asserting that he had proposed a settlement in October 2023, demonstrating his intention to resolve the matter.

"Kurt is not 'simply wait[ing] for Shannen to die,'" Heersema said, per People. "He wants the best for Shannen, and he wants both of them to be able to put this case behind them and move forward."

Doherty argued that she rejected proposed divorce settlements because they failed to address "his original works created during marriage" and his "earning capacity."

In her legal filing, Doherty requested $15,434 per month in spousal support from Iswarienko, citing the loss of her SAG health insurance and a decline in "Charmed" residuals.

She also accused Iswarienko of living a lavish lifestyle while denying her access to their funds, a private airplane, and a vacation home in Texas.

"Kurt has been utilizing the airplane, spending thousands of dollars at medical spas, jewelry stores, Gucci, and on flights… while simultaneously claiming he has insufficient funds with which to support me," the filing stated.

Doherty and Iswarienko married in October 2011, but after 11 years, the "Beverly Hills, 90210" star filed for divorce in April 2023.

Her representative, Sloane, told the outlet at the time, "Divorce is the last thing Shannen wanted," explaining that Doherty "felt she was left with no other option."

Doherty was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015 and went into remission by 2017. However, she announced in 2020 that the cancer had returned to stage 4.

Since then, Doherty has been open about her treatment journey, sharing the challenges and the triumphs.

"I feel like I have a responsibility in my more public life, which I separate from my acting life ... to talk about cancer and perhaps educate people more and let people know that people with stage 4 are very much alive and very active," she said during a virtual panel for her Lifetime movie "List of a Lifetime."

She added: "My husband says that you would never know that I have cancer. I never really complain. I don't talk about it. It's part of life at this point."

Before her passing, Doherty's final post on Instagram showed how optimistic she was about surviving cancer.

The actress shared a video clip on June 25 from an episode of her "Let's Be Clear" podcast, where she talked about her chemotherapy and how it has been "scary" not knowing when it would end.

"I have no idea how long I'm going to be on the chemo for," Doherty said. "I have no idea if it's going to be three months or if it's going to be six months or if we're going to, you know, if, after three months, it's not working if we are going to change again. Like, I don't really [know]. That's not something that I can predict. It's not something my doctors can predict, and it's scary. It's like a big wake-up call."

Doherty continued, "At the same time, I've got to say, there is some positivity there, and the positivity is that because [the] molecular structure of my cancer cells changed recently, it means that there's a lot more protocols for me to try. So you know, for the first time, in a couple of months probably, I feel hopeful because there are so many more protocols now. Whereas, before, I was hopeful, but I was still getting prepared."