Nick Reiner wants his inheritance. He needs it to stay out of the death chamber. The 32-year-old son of Hollywood royalty Rob Reiner is locked in a jail cell, accused of butchering his parents in their Brentwood mansion. Now, his civil lawyers are dragging the family trust into court, claiming the gatekeepers are illegally hoarding the cash he needs for a high-priced defense.
It is a grim cash grab. According to a petition filed Monday in Los Angeles County, the trust has at least $1.5 million sitting in it. The rules of the 1993 trust were simple. Nick was supposed to get half at age 30. He got nothing. The rest was due at 35, but his lawyers say he needs every dime immediately to survive jail and pay his legal bills.
The tragedy is pure Hollywood noir. Rob Reiner, the genius behind “This is Spinal Tap” and “When Harry Met Sally,” was found stabbed to death alongside his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, on December 14. Nick was busted hours later. He pleaded not guilty. He hired heavy-hitter Alan Jackson, but Jackson walked when Nick’s siblings, Jake and Romy, abruptly stopped paying the bills. Jackson says he will jump right back into the fray the second the trust money clears.
The trustee, Paul R. Kanin, is playing gatekeeper. The petition claims Kanin has offered a rotating carousel of excuses to keep the vault locked, even questioning Nick’s mental competence. Nick’s lawyers call this irrelevant. The payout is mandatory. Kanin has kept quiet, ignoring requests for comment.
Meanwhile, the murder case drags. A pretrial hearing is set for September. District Attorney Nathan Hochman is still mulling over the death penalty. The cops are keeping quiet, the autopsy is sealed, and the public knows next to nothing. In April, Jake Reiner broke his silence, calling the ordeal a “living nightmare.” For Nick, the nightmare is real, expensive, and currently unfunded.
