Slayer Statute Blocks Reiner From $1.5M Trust
Slayer Statute Blocks Reiner From $1.5M Trust
The News
Nick Reiner, charged with murdering his parents, has been blocked from a $1.5 million trust fund his parents set up for him — because California's "slayer statute" bars a killer from profiting off the person he is accused of killing.
The professional fiduciary who oversees the trust moved in court to stop Reiner from tapping the money to pay his lawyers. He has pleaded not guilty.
The fight matters because without the trust money, Reiner cannot rehire private attorney Alan Jackson and would face a capital-eligible murder case with a public defender.
Timeline
Reiner allegedly lay in wait at his parents' $13.5 million Los Angeles mansion and slashed the throats of Rob and Michele Reiner as they slept, according to the Daily Mail's account of the allegations. He was charged with their murders and has pleaded not guilty.
Court documents surface showing the trust's fiduciary opposing Reiner's petition for access to the $1.5 million, citing the slayer statute.
A hearing on the trust dispute is scheduled.
Reiner's next court appearance in the criminal case.
Reactions
Lauriann Wright, the lawyer for the fiduciary, argues California law bars using a killer's inheritance to cover defense costs, and warned that releasing the funds now would be "irreversible" given what the statute requires.
Under the statute, the trustees say, Reiner's share would instead pass to his siblings, Romy and Jake Reiner.
Reiner's side is pressing the opposite case: he has renewed his demand for the money ahead of trial, and separately claims he is owed $558,000 in trust distributions that should have been paid starting at his 30th birthday in 2023 — before any of this.
What's Next
A judge takes up the trust question at Monday's hearing. The criminal case returns to court Sept. 15.
The narrow legal question is whether the slayer statute can be applied on charges alone, before any court has found Reiner guilty of anything. A ruling for the fiduciary means Reiner goes into a capital-eligible trial with appointed counsel.
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Slayer statutes exist in most states to stop a killer from inheriting from a victim. They are normally applied after a conviction or a civil finding of responsibility. Reiner's case tests the front end of that rule — using it to freeze money while the accused is still presumed innocent and trying to pay for the lawyers who would defend him.
The $558,000 claim is a separate thread: money Reiner says came due in 2023, years before the killings, and which may not turn on the slayer statute at all.
Reporting: Los Angeles Times, Rolling Stone, The Hollywood Reporter, New York Post, Daily Mail.
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