Rob Reiner's son Nick claims he cannot access even $5 from family trust for jail commissary

Nick Reiner’s attorneys are seeking access to funds from the trust established by Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner for his defense and basic needs
Prosecutors announced that Nick Reiner would not face the death penalty if convicted in his parents’ killings (Getty Images)
Prosecutors announced that Nick Reiner would not face the death penalty if convicted in his parents’ killings (Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Nick Reiner has not withdrawn “even $5” from his trust fund as he continues his legal battle to access the money for basic jail commissary needs and his private legal defense.

Reiner is accused of killing his parents, Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner, who were found dead in an apparent double homicide on December 14, 2025. He has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder with special circumstances.

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 28: Rob Reiber and Michele Singer Reiner attends the 2018 White House Correspondents' Dinner at Washington Hilton on April 28, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner attended the 2018 White House Correspondents' Dinner at Washington Hilton on April 28, 2018, in Washington, DC (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

Nick Reiner’s attorneys challenge trust fund denial

New court filings submitted Thursday and obtained by PEOPLE claimed that Reiner has not been able to access any money from the trust to cover his basic needs or private legal defense. “Nick still has not been able to access even $5 from his trust to buy basic subsistence items from the jail commissary,” his attorneys Anita P. Wu and Geoffrey A. Neri wrote in the filings.

The latest filings came in response to objections from trustee Jodi Pais Montgomery and former trustee Paul R. Kanin, who have opposed Reiner’s request to access the trust. Their previous court papers cited California’s “slayer statute,” which states that a person cannot inherit money or property from people they “feloniously and intentionally” kill.

Nick Reiner appears with Deputy Public Defender Kimberly Greene during his arraignment in Los Angeles County Superior Court on February 23, 2026, in Los Angeles, California (Photo by Chris Torres-Pool/Getty Images)
Nick Reiner appeared with Deputy Public Defender Kimberly Greene during his arraignment in Los Angeles County Superior Court on February 23, 2026, in Los Angeles, California (Chris Torres-Pool/Getty Images)

The trust, established by Rob and Michele, is worth more than $1.5 million. Reiner’s attorneys have argued that the slayer statute does not apply because an accusation alone does not constitute a determination.

“The slayer statute requires a determination, not a mere accusation,” Wu previously said, per an August 14 report from The New York Times and added, “Nick is presumed innocent and has been convicted of nothing.”

BRENTWOOD, CALIFORNIA - DECEMBER 14: LAPD officers put up police tape as the police investigate two people found dead in Rob Reiner's home on December 14, 2025 in Brentwood, California. The LAPD confirmed that the deceased are Rob Reiner and his wife Michele Singer Reiner. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
LAPD officers put up police tape as they investigated two people found dead at Rob Reiner's home on December 14, 2025, in Brentwood, California. The LAPD confirmed that the deceased were Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Nick Reiner’s attorneys cite $558,000 trust distribution

Reiner’s attorneys also claimed that trustees failed to distribute money owed to him before his parents’ deaths. According to the latest filing, the trust included an “Age-30 Distribution” provision requiring Reiner to receive a portion of the funds when he turned 30 on September 14, 2023.

“Nick turned 30 on September 14, 2023. By the Successor Trustee’s own calculation, at least $558,000 became due and payable to him that day. His parents were alive. No one had accused him of anything,” his attorneys wrote.

The trustee’s denial previously stated that Reiner’s urgency “did not arise in a vacuum” and was connected to the deaths of his parents, whom he is accused of killing. A lawyer for the trustee argued that releasing the funds could be “irreversible” if Reiner is ultimately convicted, in which case the money would go to his siblings, Jake and Romy.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 15: (L-R) Jake Reiner, Romy Reiner, Rob Reiner, and Michele Reiner attend the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards at Peacock Theater on January 15, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images)
Jake Reiner, Romy Reiner, Rob Reiner, and Michele Reiner attended the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards at Peacock Theater on January 15, 2024, in Los Angeles, California (Neilson Barnard/Getty Images)

Reiner’s former attorney, Alan Jackson, said Monday that Reiner should be allowed to access the trust money to choose his criminal counsel. Speaking after a probate hearing on August 17, Jackson said Reiner was “very much entitled to his own money, his own funds.”

“He’s made a determination that he wants to be able to use his funds that are in his trust account to decide on his criminal counsel,” Jackson said and added, “And when he’s allowed to do that, he will then be able to defend himself in the way that the Constitution indicates that he should and can defend himself.”

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