In the days before her death, actor Shannen Doherty and her ex-husband Kurt Iswarienko were working to finalize their divorce.
Court documents obtained by People show that Doherty agreed to a “default or uncontested dissolution” of the marriage on July 12, the day before she died of breast cancer.
The paperwork indicates that the couple settled their divorce proceedings, including “their property and their marriage or domestic partnership rights, including support,” out of court.
Additionally, Doherty filed to waive spousal support on July 12. Iswarienko signed the papers the following day, the same day that Doherty died.
The couple were married for 11 years before Doherty filed for divorce in April 2023. On an episode of her podcast, the actor explained that she discovered a two-year affair her husband had been having, and that this discovery came just before she underwent brain surgery to address her cancer.
In the months leading up to her death, the divorce battle became increasingly bitter. Earlier court documents show Doherty alleging that Iswarienko was prolonging the divorce “in hopes that I die before he is required to pay me [spousal support],” per People.
Doherty’s death comes less than a month after she began a new round of chemotherapy treatment. She updated fans on her illness and divorce via her podcast, saying she was “scared of the unknown” as she navigated both her health issues and the end of her marriage.
“I just feel like my life has been unknown for over a year now, between divorce and cancer,” Doherty explained.
Who Is Shannen Doherty and How Did She Die?
- Doherty was an actor best known for her work on Little House on the Prairie, Charmed and 90210.
- As a teenager in the ’80s, she appeared in films like Heathers, Night Shift and Girls Just Want to Have Fun.
- Doherty was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015.
- Her cancer went into remission, but in 2017, she revealed that it had returned and was now Stage IV. Subsequently, her cancer spread to her brain.
- Doherty died on July 13. She was 53 years old.
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