Nick Reiner, the 32-year-old son of acclaimed Hollywood director Rob Reiner, has gone to court to claim his inheritance — even as he faces murder charges in the deaths of both his parents.
In court documents filed Monday, Nick petitioned for access to funds his parents, Rob and Michele Reiner, had placed in a trust for him. According to the petition, the arrangement entitled him to half of the $1.5 million trust upon turning 30, with the remaining half due when he turns 35.
Nick alleges that the current trustee, identified as attorney Paul Kanin, has repeatedly blocked his access to the funds, offering what the petition describes as a shifting series of excuses — including unsubstantiated concerns about his competence to manage money, despite the terms his parents explicitly set out.
The dispute took a direct toll on his criminal defence. When Nick sought to retain high-profile defence attorney Alan Jackson to represent him on the murder charges, he says Kanin refused to authorise the payment. Jackson subsequently withdrew from the case, leaving Nick with no choice but to rely on a public defender.
The petition states that Kanin indicated Nick would be unable to access the funds until the court had resolved the question of his guilt or innocence. Nick reportedly pushed back, telling the trustee that time was of the essence — stressing that the continued delay was preventing his chosen counsel from investigating or preparing his defence, and that the harm caused was irreparable and growing by the day.
“Every additional week of delay is a week in which the counsel of his choice cannot investigate or prepare on his behalf,” his lawyers argued in the filing, adding that the trustee was simultaneously depleting Nick’s funds by paying lawyers to generate reasons to withhold the money for a further two years — all in violation, they say, of the trust’s plain terms.
Beyond legal fees, Nick also noted that he lacks funds for basic necessities while incarcerated, including soap and socks.
The petition further alleges that Kanin had originally delayed the payment owed on Nick’s 30th birthday by falsely claiming a predecessor trustee had already released the funds, and that he is now seeking to transfer the trust to a different trustee entirely. Nick is pursuing a full accounting of the trust as well as damages from Kanin.
In his criminal case, Nick is represented by Deputy Public Defender Kimberly Greene, who has entered not guilty pleas on his behalf to six felony charges: two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of special circumstances involving multiple murders, and two counts of special circumstances for the use of a deadly weapon.
Prosecutors allege that on December 14, Nick stabbed both his parents to death at their $13.5 million home in the upscale Brentwood neighbourhood of Los Angeles before fleeing the scene.