Nick Reiner Blocked From Using Trust Fund for Parents’ Murders Defense

Nick Reiner‘s request for access to his more than $1.5 million trust fund has been blocked. A trustee for the fund argued in court documents that due to California’s “slayer statute,” Reiner is prevented from using the funds to defend himself against charges that he murdered his parents, director Rob Reiner and photographer-philanthropist Michele Reiner.

Reiner was indicted for the murders of his parents and pleaded not guilty to the initial charges in February. On Wednesday, Aug. 12, he pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder with a new special circumstance allegation of murder by means of lying in wait, prosecutors said. He also faces a special allegation that he personally used a dangerous and deadly weapon, a knife. In June, Reiner, who is currently represented by a public defender, filed a probate petition seeking to use some of the trust to hire a private lawyer.

In court documents filed last week and obtained by The New York Times, Jodi Pais Montgomery — a fiduciary tasked with overseeing the fund Reiner’s parents established for him after he was born — opposed Reiner’s request, citing the “slayer statute.” The California law prevents individuals from inheriting money, like the trust in question, from people they “feloniously and intentionally” kill.

“California has enacted no exception permitting a killer’s inheritance to be used for criminal defense costs,” Lauriann Wright, a lawyer for the professional fiduciary, Montgomery, said in the filing. Wright also said that under the slayer statute, the funds would be given to Reiner’s siblings, Romy and Jake. She added that though Reiner is presumed innocent pending trial, releasing the funds now would be “irreversible.”

Anita P. Wu, an attorney for Reiner, rejected the claim that the California law applies in Reiner’s case. “The slayer statute requires a determination, not a mere accusation,” she said in a statement to The Times. “Nick is presumed innocent and has been convicted of nothing.”

A spokesperson for Reiner’s sister and brother did not immediately return Rolling Stone‘s request for comment.

Reiner’s next hearing is set for Sept. 15.