Nick Reiner seeking to access trust fund to pay for high-profile lawyer

Nick Reiner wants to access a trust fund set up by his late parents, Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner, to pay for a lawyer.

Last December, Nick was arrested on suspicion of murder after filmmaker Rob and his photographer wife, Michele, were found dead at their Brentwood, Los Angeles home.

The 32-year-old appeared in court in April, where he pleaded not guilty to two charges of first-degree murder with special circumstances, including the use of a knife.

On Monday, reporters at TMZ obtained a petition filed by Nick's legal team in which he is seeking the "distribution of money" from a trust fund set up by his parents in 1992. He was allegedly supposed to receive a payout from the trust when he turned 30.

Editors at People have reported that the trust is worth around $1.5 million (£1.1 million).

In the court documents, Nick claimed a trustee had denied him the funds, meaning he was unable to hire attorney Alan Jackson to represent him in the case.

The California native wrote "time is of the essence" in the petition and asserted that he needed to re-hire Jackson to represent him in order to avoid "further jeopardizing my defense in the criminal matter".

The trustee's name hasn't been made public.

At present, Nick is being represented by public defender Kimberly Greene.

But in a declaration, Jackson asserted he is "committed to representing" Nick and "willing to consider reasonable alternatives" to his original fee request.

Representatives for the Reiner family and Jackson have not yet commented on the update.

Nick's next court appearance is set for 15 September.