Shannen Doherty Granted Rare Posthumous Divorce

Shannen Doherty, the famous American actress of the prominent series Beverly Hills, was granted a rare posthumous divorce hours before her death. The final decision of divorce with her husband, Kurt Iswarienko, was made just before her death.

She died at the age of 53. The star had been suffering from breast cancer for the past few years. Her first diagnosis was made in the year 2015. It was at stage 4 in 2020, which was entirely untreatable.

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Shannen Doherty’s lawyer, Laura Wasser had handled divorce cases of Britney Spears, Ariana Grande and Kim Kardashian. The lawyer had submitted the divorce agreement in the court before the star’s death to finish off the details as soon as possible.

The details of the rare posthumous divorce included the division of Doherty’s assets. The star kept her California home. It was the couple’s home in Malibu. The possessions even included a Salvador painting, multiple cars and all the earnings from her on-camera career.

The documents were submitted on Friday and the judge declared them divorced on Monday. The agreement was signed by the judge on the same day.

The Story Before The Rare Posthumous Divorce

Iswarienko was his third husband who remained with her in her longest marriage. Iswarienko was a photographer by profession. They both tied the knot in 2011.

Her spouse stayed by her side following her 2015 breast cancer diagnosis. On social media, she also said that her love for her spouse is “stronger than ever.”

Despite the cancer returning in the year 2020, her spouse was still there through her thick and thin. She knew that they both were facing problems due to her illness and regarded more of him due to this very reason.

In 2023, Doherty filed for a divorce on the grounds of Iswarienko’s unfaithfulness. Before her marriage, she already confessed that she was struggling through the toughest time of her life. She described it as “exhausting” as she was going through mental stress as a result of her marital issues as well as physical health.

Doherty mentioned in a podcast interview that she went into the operation theatre for her surgery and after coming out, she had to take a decision. She immediately thought of divorce which she never knew would transform into a rare posthumous divorce in near time.

When getting into details during the same podcast, she opened up about how she felt about her husband’s affair. She felt “betrayed” and told Kurt that he was not needed by her side during the surgery.

Since she loved her husband more than anything, she was completely upset. As their relationship lasted longer than the rest of her marriages, she felt “incredibly unloved” after the incident. She could have never imagined that her husband was in two relationships as she perceived she was the only one in their relationship with all her heart.

The other two marriages didn’t last as long as this one. The star had no children. Therefore, the decision of who the heir of all her property would be still remains unknown.

Shannen’s representative, Leslie Sloane, gave a statement to the press that “divorce was the last thing Shannen wanted”. This was a forced decision that her mind had to make after learning about her husband’s alleged affair.

Also, it has come into the limelight that she “intentionally” delayed the proceedings of the now rare posthumous divorce as she could not take a heartbreak as big as this. She thought people would find it amusing when they hear news of someone getting divorced and making money out of it.

She was already in a trauma of her disease and it would have been hurtful for her with such an unfortunate incident during the remaining days of her life.