Nick Reiner is seeking access to his more than $1.5 million trust fund to help pay for his defense against charges in his parents’ double homicide, according to multiple news organizations.
Attorneys for Nick Reiner, 32, filed a 136-page petition in Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday seeking access to his trust, which he, reportedly, was supposed to begin receiving two years ago. The petition says that Nick Reiner has been denied access despite “unambiguous instructions” left by his parents, Rob and Michele Reiner, on how to disburse the funds in the trust that was established in 1993, multiple news organizations reported.
“Nick loved his parents, and he is devastated by their deaths,” the petition states, according to numerous reports. “But the facts about what did and did not happen to them are not at issue in this trust litigation,” the document further states, according to reports by news organizations that have copies of the petition.
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, according to the petition, which further states that each of the Reiners’ three children has an independent trust for their individual benefit, including Nick Reiner’s siblings.
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, reportedly, say are 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 states, according to multiple news accounts.
A hearing is set for Aug. 17.
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.