Nick Reiner denied access to trust fund due to 'slayer statute'

Nick Reiner's attempt to access the $1.5 million (£1.11 million) trust fund as he faces murder charges in his parents' killings has been blocked.

In court papers obtained by The New York Times, Jodi Pais Montgomery, the appointed fiduciary overseeing the fund, opposed Reiner's request, citing the "slayer statute".

The statute is a California law that prevents a "person who feloniously and intentionally kills the decedent" from inheriting "any property, interest or benefit under a will of the decedent, or a trust created by or for the benefit of the decedent".

Reiner has been indicted for the murders of his parents, Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner, in their California home in December 2025.

He pleaded not guilty to the initial murder charges in February, as well as to new charges added on Wednesday last week, and remains in custody in Los Angeles.

Reiner filed a probate petition to access some of the trust, which his late parents established, in June, so he could rehire attorney Alan Jackson to defend him in his upcoming criminal trial.

Jackson stepped off the case in January.

"California has enacted no exception permitting a killer's inheritance to be used for criminal defence costs," Lauriann Wright, a lawyer for Montgomery, wrote in the filings.

Wright also wrote that the funds would be transferred to Reiner's siblings, Romy and Jake Reiner. She added that although Reiner is presumed innocent pending the trial, releasing the funds now would be "irreversible".