Shannen Doherty and Kurt Iswarienko were married for 11 years (Picture: C Flanigan/WireImage)
Shannen Doherty has claimed her estranged husband is ignoring requests for financial support because he is ‘waiting for her death’ from cancer.
The Beverly Hills 90210 actress was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015 and had been in remission until 2020 when she was given her stage four diagnosis.
Last year, the 53-year-old filed for divorce from her photographer ex Kurt Iswarienko, 49, in April 2023 after 11 years of marriage and has been seeking spousal support.
She is seeking $15,434 (£12,208)per month, as well as over $9,000 (£7,119) in legal fees, as she claimed her residuals from show Charmed are decreasing and she is about to lose her SAG health insurance as a result of not working.
However, she has claimed Iswarienko is purposefully drawing out their divorce so that is not finalised before his death and he therefore does not have to pay spousal support.
Iswarienko’s lawyer Katherine Heersema denies the allegation.
Doherty filed for divorce last year after claiming Iswarienko had an affair (Picture: Vivien Killilea/WireImage)
She is now seeking more than $15,000 in spousal support monthly (Picture: JB Lacroix/WireImage)
According to legal documents obtained by People, Doherty claimed: ‘It is simply not right that Kurt be permitted to prolong our divorce in hopes that I die before he is required to pay me while he continues to live his life and shirk his responsibilities to his dying wife of more than 11 years.’
In a statement shared with the publication, Iswarienko’s lawyer Katherine Heersema said: ‘Kurt is not “simply wait[ing] for Shannen to die”.
‘He wants the best for Shannen and he wants both of them to be able to put this case behind them and move forward.’
Heersema also said that Iswarienko had offered Doherty a settlement deal in October 2023, proving that he did want a resolution but the TV star refused the offer.
Doherty has claimed Iswarienko is delaying their divorce and ‘waiting for her to die’ to avoid paying spousal support (Picture: Steve Granitz/WireImage)
Last year, Doherty reflected on the end of their relationship and claimed that she found out he had been having a two-year affair at the beginning of the year, as she prepared to go under the knife for brain surgery.
She said on her podcast Let’s Be Clear: ‘We discovered in the first week of January that my cancer had spread to my brain … I had brain surgery which was the most frightening thing I’ve ever been through in my life. I didn’t think that I was going to make it. I was positive that I was going to die.
‘I went into that surgery early in the morning, and I went in after I found out that my marriage was essentially over, that my husband had been carrying on an affair for two years.
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web
browser that
supports HTML5
video
‘To not go in that surgery – even though, being very clear, he wanted to go – I couldn’t go into that surgery with him there. I felt so betrayed.’
Earlier this year, Doherty revealed her funeral plans and admitted there were ‘a lot of people’ she did not want invited – but refused to give away any names.
She also recently expressed her desire for her ashes to be mixed with those of her dad and her dog.
Metro.co.uk has contacted Iswarienko’s rep for comment.
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.