Kurt Iswarienko Challenges Divorce Settlement With Late Actress Shannen Doherty

Kurt Iswarienko has filed legal documents challenging the divorce settlement he reached with his late ex-wife, actress Shannen Doherty, according to court filings obtained by People.

Iswarienko’s attorney submitted the filing to Los Angeles Superior Court on Jan. 14, nearly two months after Doherty’s estate alleged that he failed to comply with several monetary and property-related provisions outlined in their divorce settlement.

In the filing, Iswarienko, 51, argued that the settlement agreement was filed in the wrong court and therefore falls outside the court’s jurisdiction. He further contended that the divorce proceedings should have automatically ended upon Doherty’s death in July 2024 following a years-long battle with cancer, asserting that the settlement should not have been filed or enforced at all.

The divorce settlement was signed by Doherty on July 12, 2024, and by Iswarienko the following day. The agreement was finalized shortly before Doherty’s death on July 13, 2024.

The challenge comes after attorneys representing Doherty’s estate, along with Christopher Cortazzo, trustee of the Shannen Doherty Family Trust, filed a motion on Nov. 24 claiming that Iswarienko had not met his obligations under the settlement.

According to that filing, the agreement required Iswarienko to sell Doherty’s $1.5 million home in Dripping Springs, Texas, and divide the net proceeds equally with her estate. The estate alleged that Iswarienko has refused to list the property for sale.

The filing also stated that Iswarienko was obligated to buy out Doherty’s share of a Mooney M-20 airplane for $100,000 and pay the amount to her estate within five business days of the sale. The estate claimed that although the aircraft was sold in August 2024, Iswarienko withheld $50,274 from the estate and has not paid the remaining balance.

In addition to the financial disputes, Doherty’s attorneys alleged that Iswarienko has failed to return items of personal property belonging to the late actress, including photographs of her, which was also stipulated in the settlement agreement.

In his Jan. 14 filing, Iswarienko further argued that Cortazzo lacked the authority under the trust to bring the enforcement motion on behalf of the estate.

Doherty filed for divorce from Iswarienko in 2023 after 11 years of marriage. At the time, her representative said the decision was difficult but necessary. In a December 2023 interview, Doherty alleged that she learned Iswarienko had been unfaithful during their marriage, discovering the alleged affair shortly before undergoing brain surgery to remove a tumor.

The dispute over the divorce settlement remains unresolved as the court considers Iswarienko’s jurisdictional challenge and the estate’s claims of noncompliance.