Nick Reiner allowed to access family trust amid murder case
What's the story
Nick Reiner, son of filmmaker Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner, has been allowed to draw funds from his family trust for his jail commissary account. The court's ruling allows distributions of up to $300 at a time from the trust. This decision comes as a legal dispute continues over whether California's Slayer Statute applies to the trust. The Slayer Statute prevents a killer from inheriting from or receiving benefits from their victim's estate.
Legal proceedings
Reiner's attorneys argued he couldn't buy basic necessities
The court's decision comes after months of legal disputes over Reiner's access to the trust funds.
His attorneys argued that he has been unable to use these funds for basic necessities in jail or hire private criminal defense counsel.
In one filing, they stated he had not been able to access "even $5 from his trust to buy basic subsistence items from the jail commissary."
Defense costs
Former trustee denied mishandling the trust
The dispute also involves questions about payments for Reiner's legal defense.
His former trustee, Paul Kanin, denied mishandling the trust, stating that $348,821.14 from the trust had been used to pay fees owed to Reiner's former attorney Alan Jackson.
Kanin stopped approving additional payments after Reiner's attorney indicated she "might use funds procured from the trust to litigate against the other Reiner family trusts," raising a potential conflict of interest.
Defense update
Trust worth around $1.5 million
Reiner is currently represented by public defender Kimberly Greene in his criminal proceeding.
The trust, established by his parents, is reportedly worth around $1.5 million.
His lawyers have argued that some of this money became payable to him before his parents' deaths and should not be subject to California's Slayer Statute.
The court has yet to decide if the statute applies to Reiner's trust.
Case background
Reiner charged with murdering his parents
Reiner, 33, has been in custody since December 2025 for the alleged murders of his parents.
A grand jury indicted him in July on two counts of first-degree murder, with special-circumstance allegations of lying in wait and using a knife.
Prosecutors say he fatally stabbed his parents inside their Brentwood home on December 14, 2025.
He was arrested hours later near the University of Southern California and has been held without bail since then.