LOS ANGELES (AP) 鈥� son is seeking unpaid money from a trust his parents established for him, saying he needs it to help in his defense against charges that he killed them.
A petition filed by the 32-year-old civil attorneys in a Los Angeles County court on Monday says that trustees overseeing the funds have denied them to him without legal justification, and he needs and should get them now.
鈥淣ick loved his parents, and he is devastated by their deaths. But the facts about what did and did not happen to them are not at issue in this Trust litigation,鈥� the petition says. 鈥淟ike anyone accused of a crime, Nick is presumed innocent, and he is entitled to mount his defense with the resources that are lawfully his own.鈥�
The director and Hollywood luminary and his wife, photographer and producer , were stabbed to death in their home in the upscale Brentwood section of Los Angeles on Dec. 14. Nick Reiner was arrested hours later and has since pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder.
retained high-profile private lawyer to represent him, but less than a month later Jackson left the case for reasons he said he couldn’t share. The new filing reveals that Reiner’s siblings, Jake and Romy Reiner, had initially agreed to pay for Jackson, but reversed course.
In a declaration included with the petition, Jackson said 鈥渕y firm stands ready, willing, and able to resume representation of Mr. Reiner鈥� if the funds become available.
The filing says that apart from the larger Reiner family trust, which is not at issue, Rob and Michele Reiner established smaller individual trusts for Nick Reiner and his siblings. It says they left 鈥渦nambiguous instructions鈥� in Nick Reiner’s trust, established in 1993, that he was to receive half its money when he turned 30 and the rest at 35.
But, the filing says, Reiner never received the funds he was entitled to at 30, and that the trustee overseeing them since February 鈥� attorney Paul R. Kanin 鈥� has given 鈥渁 shifting series of excuses and justifications鈥� to deny Reiner the money, including concerns about Reiner’s competence that have no bearing on a payout that is mandatory.
Reiner says he should also get the money he was to receive at 35 immediately because his defense and his need for basic necessities in jail require it.
The petition says the trust has at least $1.5 million in assets, but that Kanin will not share the exact amount of its value.
Kanin did not immediately respond to an after-hours email seeking comment.
Proceedings in are moving slowly. He is scheduled to return to court for a pretrial hearing in September. He is eligible for the death penalty, but District Attorney Nathan Hochman has said his office has not yet decided whether to seek it.
Authorities have said nothing about possible motives, and leaks in the case have been virtually nonexistent on both sides. A court order has kept most details of the autopsy secret. Many of the most basic questions about the killing remain unanswered publicly.
On the day he left the case, Jackson, speaking outside court, declared adamantly that 鈥減ursuant to the laws of California, Nick Reiner is not guilty of murder.鈥�
In April, Jake Reiner gave his first detailed account of the experience of losing his parents and having his brother at the center of it, calling it 鈥渁 living nightmare鈥� that is 鈥渢oo devastating to comprehend.鈥�
Rob Reiner was a prolific director whose work included some of the most of the 1980s and 鈥�90s. His credits included 鈥淭his is Spinal Tap,鈥� 鈥淪tand By Me,鈥� 鈥淎 Few Good Men,鈥� and 鈥淲hen Harry Met Sally鈥� ,鈥� during the production of which he met photographer Michele Singer. They wed soon after and were married for 36 years.
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
