Shannen Doherty granted posthumous divorce from Kurt Iswarienko

Shannen Doherty has been granted a posthumous divorce, ending her marriage to Kurt Iswarienko days after she passed away.

The Beverly Hills, 90210 legend died on Saturday at the age of 53 following a brave battle against cancer.

Her marriage to professional photographer Kurt imploded in 2023 as he was accused of having "intimate" relations with his own agent - prompting a furious statement from Shannen and her publicist.

The actress had hoped to officially divorce Kurt, and paperwork was filed hours before her death, but they were not signed off by authorities ahead of her tragic passing at the weekend.

TMZ reports that the divorce has now been granted, in a highly unusual move.

They reported, "Shannen's lawyer... Laura Wasser, worked furiously to settle the divorce terms in the last week of the Beverly Hills, 90210 star's life, which happened last Friday... (but) the judge didn't sign off before the weekend and by Monday Shannen was already dead."

California law traditionally dictates that if someone died in the midst of a divorce, the case should be handled in the probate court - but judges in such courts cannot finalise divorces.

However, the family law judge is now reported to have signed the papers filed last Friday posthumously, meaning Shannen is legally recorded as divorced despite being technically still married at death.

Shannen and Kurt were married in 2011 and their split was acrimonious with allegations Kurt had been unfaithful and later that he had been delaying divorce proceedings in order to avoid spousal payments.