Nick Reiner seeks trust fund money to fund defense, commissary

by · UPI

June 9 (UPI) -- Nick Reiner, who was charged in the stabbing deaths of his parents Rob and Michele Reiner, has petitioned a court asking for access to his trust fund to pay his legal fees and necessities.

The petition, filed in a Los Angeles court, claims that half of the trust was required to be given to Nick Reiner, 32, "outright when he turned 30," and the rest would be distributed when he turned 35.

The Reiners created trust funds for each of their children, separate from the family trust of all their assets.

"Nick loved his parents, and he is devastated by their deaths," the probate petition filed on Monday said, People reported. "But the facts about what did and did not happen to them are not at issue in this Trust litigation. 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."

Related

The petition said that Nick Reiner never got the money he should have at age 30 and that he doesn't know the full amount in the fund, though he claims it's more than $1.5 million.

He is seeking the money to pay for his defense in the murder trial and to use his jail commissary account, 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."

Nick Reiner was originally represented by attorney Alan Jackson, but he withdrew from the case on Jan. 7 because Reiner couldn't pay him. He has since been represented by a public defender. Reiner would like to bring Jackson back to the case.

Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner were found dead in their home on Dec. 14, and police arrested and charged their son the following day. Rob Reiner, 78, was a legendary actor and filmmaker, and he was the son of actor and comedian Karl Reiner, who died in 2020 at 98. The couple have two other children, Romy Reiner and Jake Reiner, and Rob Reiner had an adopted daughter, actor Tracy Reiner, with his first wife, Penny Marshall.

This week in Washington

President Donald Trump discusses renovations to the Lincoln Reflecting Pool and makes an announcement on coal in the Oval Office at the White House on Thursday. Photo by Samuel Corum/UPI | License Photo