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Nick Reiner, who stands accused of killing his parents Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner, has been denied access to the $1.5-million US trust fund he was seeking to use to fund his legal defence.
According to a June filing, Reiner had been seeking allegedly unpaid money from a trust fund his parents established for him in 1993.
In court papers obtained by CBC News, trustees rejected Reiner’s request for the funds, citing a portion of California law known as the “slayer statute,” which prevents individuals from inheriting money, property, or trusts from someone they have “feloniously and intentionally” killed.
Rob Reiner, a celebrated director and actor, and his wife Michele, a photographer and producer, were stabbed to death in their California home on Dec. 14. Hours later, their son Nick Reiner was arrested.
The 32-year-old was indicted on murder charges on July 20. He has pleaded not guilty.
The indictment by a Los Angeles County grand jury, unsealed earlier this month, alleges that Reiner was lying in wait before attacking his parents. This detail, along with other circumstances, means he is eligible for the death penalty. District Attorney Nathan Hochman has said his office has not yet decided whether to seek it.
Reiner is scheduled to return to court for a pretrial hearing in September. He is currently being represented by public defender Kimberly Greene, to whom CBC News has reached out for comment.
Trust fund access denied
The June filing said that apart from the family trust fund, smaller individual trust funds had been established for the Reiner children, in their names. Nick Reiner was entitled to half of his trust fund when he turned 30, according to the document, and the rest at 35.
But he claimed in the petition that he had never received the funds he was meant to at 30, alleging that the trustees were denying him access to money to which he was legally entitled.
“Like anyone accused of a crime, Nick is presumed innocent, and he is entitled to mount his defense with the resources that are lawfully his own,” the petition said, adding that the assets in the fund added up to at least $1.5 million US.
High-profile private lawyer Alan Jackson was originally retained to represent Reiner, but left after less than a month without sharing the reason. The June filing revealed that Reiner’s siblings, Jake and Romy Reiner, had initially agreed to pay their brother’s legal fees before reversing course.
Jackson said in a declaration accompanying the petition that he would be willing to rejoin the case if the funds were available to retain him.
The two siblings have not publicly commented on the legal proceedings.
‘Slayer statute’ principles
The lawyer who was previously overseeing the trust fund, Paul R. Kanin, and incoming trustee Jodi Pais Montgomery both concluded in court documents that the unknown outcome of the criminal case against Reiner meant that funds could not be distributed at this time.
“Nick’s sense of urgency is real, but it did not arise in a vacuum. It arises from the deaths of his parents, the very settlors of the Trust at issue, and Nick is presently accused of causing those deaths,” the new filing reads.
“While Nick is presumed innocent of that accusation … no one, not this Court, nor the parties, knows how the criminal proceedings against Nick will ultimately resolve.”
The filing stated that the trust fund can’t be accessed until it is clear whether Probate Code Section 250 and any related “slayer statute” principles could affect Reiner’s entitlement to the funds.
Eight months after the killings, many details are still unknown to the public. Authorities have not speculated on motives.
Jake Reiner, the eldest son of Rob and Michele Reiner, opened up in April about enduring the “living nightmare” of his parents’ murder, as well as the attention around the case centring on allegations about his brother.
“Nothing can prepare you for what it feels like to lose both parents instantly at the same time,” he wrote in a Substack essay.
“They were the last people in the world to deserve what happened to them.”
Rob Reiner was known for his decades of work in the film industry, acting in and helming some of the most well-known films of Hollywood at the time. His credits as a director include The Princess Bride, A Few Good Men and Stand By Me.
He met his wife Michele while filming the beloved rom-com When Harry Met Sally, later telling CNN in 2024 that this meeting inspired him to change the ending of the film so that the main characters got together. They were married for 36 years.
