Movies
Nick Reiner has spent $200K on lawyer fees in parent’s murder case
Nick Reiner’s already running through a good chunk of the $1.5 million trust left behind by his parents he allegedly stabbed to death.
Reiner was not present in court Monday as his high-profiled attorney Alan Jackson battled over his bid to access the trust to help pay for his defense against charges he murdered his parents, Rob and Michelle Reiner in December 2025.
Nick has already racked up a $200,000 legal bill in services from Jackson, it was revealed. He also receives $300 a month from the trust to use in the prison commissary.
Jackson dropped Nick in January for what he said were “circumstances beyond our control,” but he’s now fighting for the troubled nepo baby once again to gain complete control over the trust fund.
The judge moved the hearing to October 23 in order to take more time to review arguments.
“The main thing that to take away from today’s hearing and moving forward is that Nick Reiner is very much entitled to his own money, his own funds, and that’s what this process is about,” Jackson said outside the courthouse after the hearing.
Nick, 32, remains incarcerated at Los Angeles’ Twin Towers Correctional Facility.
Ahead of Monday’s hearing, Nick filed a new declaration pushing back on the trustee’s claim that he previously agreed to leave money he was entitled to receive when he turned 30 in the trust, according to court docs obtained by Page Six.
The new trustee estimates that at least $558,000 became due to Nick when he turned 30 in 2023, but argues that he consented to leaving the money in the trust as trust property, allowing it to continue to be withheld from him.
The trustee also argues that his alleged consent defeats his claim to interest and income that has accrued on the money since then.
Nick disputes that, saying he never agreed to have the money withheld indefinitely, never authorized his mother to consent on his behalf and does not recall signing any document agreeing to it.
He says he now wants the money released along with the accrued interest and income.
Monday’s hearing is separate from the criminal case in which Nick is accused of stabbing his parents, famed filmmaker Rob Reiner and photographer-producer Michele Singer Reiner, to death inside their Brentwood home.
Instead, the civil probate dispute centers on a trust Rob and Michele established for Nick during their lifetimes.
Nick filed a 136-page petition in June claiming the trust contains more than $1.5 million and required half of it to be distributed to him when he turned 30. Nick, now 32, claims he never received the money.
His attorneys argue the distribution belonged to Nick years before his parents were killed and that trustee Paul Kanin has improperly withheld it over concerns about Nick’s ability to manage his finances.
Nick is now seeking access to the money in part to privately fund his defense in the murder case.
He was initially represented by high-profile criminal defense attorney Alan Jackson following his December arrest, but Jackson withdrew in January after funding that had been expected from Nick’s trust or family trusts failed to materialize, according to Nick’s petition.
Jackson later said in a declaration that he remains willing to consider representing Nick if funding becomes available.
Nick is currently represented in the criminal case by Los Angeles County Deputy Public Defender Kimberly Greene.
His attorneys also say Nick needs access to his money for basic expenses while incarcerated, including putting funds into his jail commissary account to purchase socks, soap and other personal hygiene items.
The trust dispute has also raised questions about California’s so-called slayer-statute, which can prevent someone who intentionally and feloniously kills another person from benefiting from that person’s death.
However, Nick’s civil attorneys argue the money at issue here is not an inheritance resulting from Rob and Michele’s deaths. They maintain the trust existed while his parents were alive and that Nick became entitled to his first distribution when he turned 30, roughly two years before they were killed.
His absence from Monday’s hearing comes one month after sources raised concerns that Nick, who has been diagnosed with schizophrenia, was “rapidly deteriorating” while behind bars.
The probate hearing comes days after a Los Angeles County grand jury indictment against Nick was unsealed, adding a new special circumstance allegation that he killed his parents by “lying in wait.”
Nick pleaded not guilty to the indictment, which charges him with two counts of first-degree murder and also alleges multiple murders and that he personally used a knife.
The indictment was returned July 20 and unsealed Aug. 12.
If convicted as charged, Nick faces life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty, though prosecutors have not yet decided whether they will seek the death penalty.
In July, a source exclusively told Page Six that Nick’s aunt Annie Reiner has continued to stand behind her nephew throughout the legal proceedings.
“Annie has been supportive of Nick throughout the legal proceedings,” the insider said.
“Despite the circumstances surrounding the case, she has remained in his corner and her presence has meant a great deal to him.”
Nick is scheduled to return to criminal court Sept. 15 for a pretrial hearing.
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