Nick Reiner asks court to release trust funds before double-murder trial

Nick Reiner is pushing a Los Angeles court to release money from his $1.6 million family trust.

His lawyer argued that the funds shouldn’t be withheld under California’s “Slayer Statute” because a substantial portion comes from his grandfather, Carl Reiner.

The civil filings revealed that Nick claims he hasn’t received “not eleven $5” from his trust for jail commissary items. His attorneys are seeking around $558,000, citing that those funds are due when he turned 30 in September 2023, before his parents’ murder.

The filing states: “The Slayer Statute, the sole remaining basis for withholding this money, takes away what a person received as a result of someone’s death. His team also contends at least $325,000 originated with Carl Reiner, who died of natural causes in 2020.

“Nick is not accused of causing his death.”

The fiduciaries of the trust, such as successor trustee Jodi Montgomery, have invoked the Slayer Statute, under which a person cannot inherit from one whom they have killed. They maintain that no distribution can be made until the criminal trial is concluded.

Reiner’s attorneys state that the legal fees of the trustees’ lawyers total more than $250,000, which comes from the trust, "nearly half" of the age 30 distribution. This, they say, violates Reiner's Sixth Amendment right to the choice of lawyer, as he wants to retain lawyer Alan Jackson, who withdrew in January because of lack of funds.

Reiner has been indicted on two charges of first-degree murder with the lying-in-wait charge. The prosecutors will not pursue capital punishment in this case. The hearing is scheduled for Oct. 23.