Rob and Michele Reiner’s son is seeking access to his more than $1.5 million trust fund to help pay for his defense against charges in their double homicide.
Attorneys for Nick Reiner, 32, filed a lengthy petition in a Los Angeles court Monday seeking access to his trust, which he was supposed to begin receiving two years ago. The petition says that their client has been denied access despite “unambiguous instructions” left by his parents on how to disburse the funds in the trust that was established in 1993.
“Nick loved his parents, and he is devastated by their deaths. But the facts about what did and did not happen to them are not at issue in this Trust litigation,” the attorneys wrote in the petition. “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 trust was established as part of the Reiners’ estate plan but is separate from the larger family trust that includes the estate’s assets. The petition states that each of the Reiners’ three children has an independent trust for their individual benefit, including Nick Reiner’s siblings.
Nick Reiner’s attorneys, Anita P. Wu and Geoffrey A. Neri, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The siblings — Jake Reiner, 34, and Romy Reiner, 28 — did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Nick Reiner has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder in connection with his parents’ killings in December. Authorities say renowned director Rob Reiner, 78, and photographer and movie producer Michele Singer Reiner, 70, were found stabbed to death in their Brentwood home. Their son was arrested hours later.
Rob Reiner is flanked by his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, and their son Nick Reiner in 2013. Michael Buckner / Getty Images for Teen Vogue file According to the petition, Nick Reiner was entitled to half of the trust when he turned 30 and should receive the remainder when he turns 35 — distributions his attorneys called “mandatory and unconditional.”
“They were a commitment by Nick’s parents, in the most binding way the law of trusts allows, that these resources would belong to Nick, for his use and benefit,” the petition said.
The petition adds that “although the Trust still holds more than $1.5 million for Nick’s sole benefit, and every dollar of it must be released to him outright in two years when Nick turns 35, the Trustee still has not released the money he was due on his 30th birthday, or even told Nick its amount.”
Nick Reiner is seeking the money to fund his defense and to fund his commissary account while he is incarcerated, the petition said.
“Given the present circumstances, it is an abuse of the Trustee’s discretion to refuse those requests,” the petition said. “Nick is currently awaiting trial on double homicide charges. No use of his funds could be more important.”
It further states that Nick Reiner has been unable to pay for what he needs while in jail or for criminal counsel.
The petition also notes that Nick Reiner was initially represented by Alan Jackson, who suddenly withdrew from the case weeks later because Reiner could not afford to retain legal services.
Since then, Nick Reiner has been forced to use a public defender assigned to him. In the petition, Jackson said he would be willing to “resume representation” if funds become available.
“Nick has a defense to present in the criminal case, and he is presently unable to fund it,” the petition said.
According to the petition, Nick Reiner is seeking the disbursement of funds “according to its terms.”
The case against Nick Reiner has been moving forward slowly . Sources with direct knowledge of the case have said that Nick Reiner’s schizophrenia medications had been adjusted at some point before the slayings of his parents.
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