Nick Reiner’s lawyers say that despite being the sole beneficiary of a family trust worth roughly $1.6 million, he has not received “even $5” from it to buy basic items while awaiting trial in jail.
Two new replies filed September 17th in Los Angeles County Superior Court intensify Reiner’s months-long fight for access to the trust established by his parents, filmmaker Rob Reiner and producer Michele Singer Reiner, when he was an infant. His attorneys are now asking a judge to order the release of at least $558,000 they argue should have become his automatically when he turned 30 in 2023.
The new filings go further than simply arguing that Reiner needs money for his criminal defense. His lawyers claim a former trustee agreed months ago to fund his jail commissary account but never followed through, leaving Reiner unable to use his own trust even for basic purchases while held at Los Angeles’ Twin Towers Correctional Facility.
Trustees overseeing the money dispute Reiner’s position. Successor trustee Jodi Pais Montgomery has argued that distributions should be withheld while the criminal case and potential application of California’s Slayer Statute remain unresolved. Reiner has pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of his parents.
His Lawyers Say He Has Received ‘Not Even $5’ for Commissary
The most striking allegation in the new filings concerns an amount far smaller than the hundreds of thousands of dollars at the center of the broader dispute. Reiner’s attorneys Anita P. Wu and Geoffrey A. Neri wrote that he has been unable to access “even $5” from the trust for basic jail commissary purchases, according to documents obtained by PEOPLE.
Jail commissaries allow incarcerated people to purchase approved items beyond what a facility routinely provides, but Reiner’s lawyers are using the commissary dispute as an example of what they describe as a broader inability to access assets they say legally belong to him.
The filings specifically accuse former trustee Paul R. Kanin of failing to complete promised commissary distributions. Reiner’s attorneys say Kanin’s lawyer agreed on April 18th and April 20th to replenish the account and requested the information needed to make a deposit.
Reiner’s legal team says it provided those instructions on April 21st and followed up afterward. “No deposit was ever made. Kanin never withdrew the commitment; it was simply never honored,” his lawyers allege.
Kanin served as trustee for approximately 15 weeks before resigning in May. He denies breaching his fiduciary duties and has argued that he acted prudently while administering the trust.
The $558,000 Fight Goes Back to Nick Turning 30 in 2023
The Nick Reiner Children’s Trust was established December 2nd, 1993, and names Nick as its sole beneficiary. Earlier court documents reported by TheWrap say one-half of the trust was required to be distributed outright when he turned 30, with the balance scheduled for distribution when he turns 35.
Reiner turned 30 on September 14th, 2023. His current attorneys say the successor trustee’s own calculation places that first distribution at no less than $558,000. “By the Successor Trustee’s own calculation, at least $558,000 became due and payable to him that day,” his attorneys wrote.
Rob and Michele were alive in 2023, and Nick had not been accused of causing their deaths. His lawyers therefore contend that the Age-30 Distribution became his property before the events that produced the criminal case now pending against him. They are asking the court to order payment of that amount along with any growth earned while the distribution remained inside the trust.
His Lawyers Say California’s Slayer Statute Should Not Block the Earlier Distribution
The trustees’ objections center partly on California law that can prevent someone who feloniously and intentionally kills another person from receiving certain property or benefits connected to that person’s death. Under Probate Code Section 250, a person who feloniously and intentionally kills a decedent is barred from receiving specified property, interests or benefits from that decedent
“The Slayer Statute, the sole remaining basis for withholding this money, takes away what a person receives as a result of someone’s death,” the filing argues. “It does not implicate money that became Nick’s years earlier.” That argument has not yet been accepted by the probate court.
California law also does not require a criminal conviction before a probate court can make a slayer determination. Under Probate Code Section 254, a final conviction is conclusive, but in its absence a court may determine by a preponderance of the evidence whether a killing was felonious and intentional for purposes of the statute.
Montgomery has argued that the trust should remain preserved while the legal questions surrounding the criminal case and the statute are unresolved.
His Attorneys Say More Than $325,000 Came From Carl Reiner
Reiner’s lawyers have introduced another argument they believe places a substantial portion of the trust outside the Slayer Statute. They say at least $325,017.49 in trust assets originated with Nick’s grandfather, comedy legend Carl Reiner, who died June 29th, 2020.
His lawyers argue that money originating from his grandfather cannot be withheld on the theory that Nick would be benefiting from Rob or Michele’s deaths. “Money that was left to Nick by his grandfather is not money received by Nick from or through his parents,” his attorneys wrote, according to TheWrap.
Reiner Wants the Trust Money to Help Pay for His Criminal Defense
Reiner has repeatedly said through court filings that he wants to use his trust to pay for private criminal counsel. He was originally represented following his arrest by prominent defense attorney Alan Jackson, whose past clients have included Kevin Spacey and Karen Read.
Jackson withdrew from the criminal case in January, citing circumstances outside his control. Reiner has since been represented by the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office.
In June, Reiner filed a 136-page petition seeking access to his trust so he could attempt to rehire Jackson. That filing argued that he had no other available means to finance his preferred legal defense and that the assets were held in a childhood trust created specifically for him.
“These are not estate assets, and Nick does not seek them from his parents’ estate,” the filing said. “They are his own funds.” The petition also said Jackson was “ready, willing and able” to return if funding became available. The Associated Press reported this week that Reiner continues trying to obtain the trust money for that purpose and that Jackson has said he wants to return to the case.
His Attorneys Say the Trust Has Spent More Than $250,000 Fighting Him
Reiner’s lawyers say attorneys representing the trustees have already accumulated more than $250,000 in fees and that those costs are being paid from Nick’s trust.
“Based on information provided by the Trustees’ lawyers, it is Petitioner’s understanding that the Trustees’ counsel have already incurred more than a quarter of a million dollars in fees litigating these disputes against him, which they are paying themselves out of Nick’s Trust,” his attorneys wrote.
“Third, it is Nick who is paying for the fight to keep his money from him,” the filing argues. His attorneys say every month of litigation reduces the amount that will eventually remain for whoever is determined to be entitled to it.
He No Longer Faces the Death Penalty but Could Spend Life in Prison
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced September 15th that prosecutors will not seek the death penalty. “This decision reflects our careful judgment about the most appropriate path to take in this case and does not diminish the severity of these crimes,” Hochman said, explaining that his office spoke with the Reiner family and evaluated aggravating and mitigating factors.
If Reiner is convicted as charged, his maximum possible punishment is now life in state prison without the possibility of parole, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
A grand jury returned an indictment on July 20th. It was unsealed August 12th, when Reiner pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder with special-circumstance allegations of multiple murders and murder by means of lying in wait. He also faces an allegation that he personally used a dangerous and deadly weapon, a knife.
The probate dispute is scheduled for another hearing October 23rd at 8:30 a.m. before Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Ruben Garcia at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse.
Rob and Nick Once Publicly Discussed Their Difficult Father-Son History
Years before the criminal case and the current fight over money created for him by his parents, Nick and Rob publicly discussed a very different attempt to work through their relationship.
The pair collaborated on Being Charlie, which Rob directed and Nick co-wrote with Matt Elisofon. The film drew partly from Nick’s experiences with addiction, treatment programs and conflict with his family.
During an Access Hollywood interview promoting the film, father and son discussed how Nick’s experiences informed the story, his repeated periods in treatment and the effect those years had on the family.
Access Hollywood’s archive describes the movie as a semi-autobiographical project partly inspired by Nick’s struggles with drug addiction and says Rob discussed how he had tried to support his son during that period.