What to Know
At the end of her life, Shannen Doherty finalized her divorce settlement with ex-husband Kurt Iswarienko, but now, he’s bringing the issue back to court. Nearly two years after the Beverly Hills, 90210 star died following a lengthy battle with breast cancer, Kurt is challenging their divorce settlement, claiming that the court has no jurisdiction to enforce the terms of the settlement.
The latest round of the battle with Shannen’s estate began in November.
According to court documents obtained by Page Six, in November, Christopher Cortazzo, the trustee of Shannen’s family estate, filed paperwork to show that Kurt hasn’t been holding up his end of the settlement, which includes selling the $1.5 million home the couple once shared and returning personal property that belonged to Shannen. At the time, Christopher also accused Kurt of withholding $50,000 that he owed her estate as well after he bought her out of her Mooney M-20 airplane in August 2024, the month after she died, as People reported.
Now, Kurt is challenging the settlement.
Two months later, Kurt is fighting back. In a new set of documents that the photographer filed with the Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday, he claims that the court shouldn’t have made judgments on the divorce and “lacks jurisdiction,” while also accusing Christopher of not showing that the trust granted him the authority to bring his case against Kurt to court in November.
According to Kurt, the settlement shouldn’t even exist since Shannen died the day after the settlement was signed, and the divorce should have been put to a full end, right then and there.
Before her death, Shannen was reportedly desperate to be legally divorced.
A source close to the late actress told Page Six that Shannen was in a hurry to get her divorce from Kurt wrapped up before she died because she was worried if they were still married, he’d end up with everything she left behind.
“We knew that it was really bad,” the source said. “She fought so hard, and it’s so unfair … Shannon died before the divorce could be rubber-stamped in the courts. All we wanted was for Shannon to get her final wish — to die as a divorced woman.”
Shannen and Kurt were married for 11 years, but an insider said that toward the end of her life, their relationship took a dark turn.
“Shannen’s friends were furious at Kurt,” the source said. “He was a cheater and having an affair. She believed he cheated on her with multiple women — when she had cancer. You can’t forgive that.”
