In a dramatic twist to an already heart-wrenching story, Shannen Doherty’s former husband, Kurt Iswarienko, is contesting the divorce settlement they both signed shortly before the actress’s untimely death from breast cancer in July 2024. The dispute has been sparked by allegations that Iswarienko still owes money to Doherty’s estate, raising questions over the terms agreed upon during her final days.
The attorneys representing Doherty’s estate, along with Christopher Cortazzo, the trustee of the Shannen Doherty Family Trust, took legal action in November 2025. They accused Iswarienko of failing to honor financial and other commitments that were laid out in the settlement. According to People, these claims have brought the former couple’s private matters into the public eye once again.
Iswarienko, a photographer now aged 51, is challenging the legitimacy of the divorce settlement. He argues that the agreement, signed by Doherty on July 12, 2024, and by him the following day—the day she passed away—was filed in an inappropriate court, suggesting it lacks the authority to enforce the settlement’s terms. These assertions were detailed in legal documents submitted to the Los Angeles Superior Court last Wednesday, as reported by People.
Furthermore, Iswarienko contends that neither Cortazzo nor the attorneys for Doherty’s estate have the legal authority to pursue the alleged outstanding payments. This legal battle underscores the complexities and emotional turmoil surrounding Doherty’s legacy.
The obligations Iswarienko is accused of not fulfilling include the sale of Doherty’s $1.5 million Dripping Springs home, which was supposed to be sold and the proceeds split evenly with her estate. However, allegations surfaced last November that he has “refused to list” the property and is currently residing there. This was corroborated when his attorney, who stepped down from the case in September, listed the home as Iswarienko’s known address.
In addition to the property dispute, Iswarienko allegedly failed to share half the $100,000 proceeds from the sale of a Mooney M-20 airplane with the estate, a transaction that closed in August 2024. The settlement also included a requirement to return personal belongings of Doherty’s, such as photographs, by September 2024—a deadline he is accused of missing. The ongoing legal wrangling continues to cast a shadow over Doherty’s estate, as reported by People.
Doherty and Iswarienko married in October 2011, and she was first diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in 2015. She announced she was in remission in 2017, but the disease returned in 2020 as Stage 4 metastatic breast cancer and began spreading as treatments became a routine part of Doherty’s daily life.
Jason Merritt/Getty Images
Shannen Doherty and Kurt Iswarienko in 2008. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images)
By 2023 it had spread to her brain, then her bones. Doherty filed for divorce from Iswarienko in April 2023 after learning — just before going under for cancer-related brain surgery — that he had been cheating, she revealed. Doherty was still being treated in early 2024 amid her divorce battle, and in June that year she accused Iswarienko of dragging out the proceedings to avoid paying spousal support.
She waived the spousal support a few weeks later, leading to the settlement, which she signed July 12, 2024, the day before she died. Iswarienko signed the papers on Saturday July 13, the same day Doherty died. A family law judge signed off on the divorce judgment the following Monday, finalizing it two days after her death and saving it from landing in probate court.
With News Wire Services
