{"id":102128,"date":"2025-12-20T03:39:18","date_gmt":"2025-12-20T03:39:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/102128\/"},"modified":"2025-12-20T03:39:18","modified_gmt":"2025-12-20T03:39:18","slug":"how-nick-reiner-could-use-his-parents-money-to-pay-his-legal-bills-despite-californias-slayer-statute","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/102128\/","title":{"rendered":"How Nick Reiner could use his parents’ money to pay his legal bills \u2014 despite California’s ‘Slayer Statute’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rob Reiner\u2019s troubled son Nick<\/a> won\u2019t see a penny of his famous family\u2019s fortune if he\u2019s convicted of killing his parents \u2014 but could still use some of their money for his million-dollar legal bills, experts said.<\/p>\n

California\u2019s \u201cSlayer Statute\u201d law prohibits anyone convicted of \u201cintentionally killing\u201d someone from receiving any money from the victims\u2019 estate \u2014 which in the Reiners\u2019 case is estimated to be around $200 million.<\/p>\n

But with high-profile attorney Alan Jackson taking on Nick\u2019s legal defense, speculation quickly grew on how the accused killer, who has faced drug problems and was living in his parents\u2019 guest house, was paying for the hotshot lawyer.<\/p>\n

Nick Reiner is facing first-degree murder charges. Getty Images for Wynn Las Vegas<\/p>\n

While it\u2019s unknown what family estate planning the acclaimed movie director had set up, lawyers said they\u2019d be surprised if the 78-year-old father of four didn\u2019t have a will and trustee set up considering his vast assets and age.<\/p>\n

His life was cut short early Sunday when Nick allegedly stabbed him and mom Michele Singer Reiner to death inside their Brentwood home. <\/p>\n

The son\u2019s facing two counts of first-degree murder.<\/a><\/p>\n

Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman said this week his office was considering whether it would pursue the death penalty against the nepo baby \u2014 though a governor\u2019s moratorium is in place pausing all executions since 2019.<\/p>\n

Nick\u2019s ability to cobble together funds to pay for a legal defense could be contingent on his siblings Jake and Romy \u2014 or anyone else who is connected to Rob Reiner\u2019s will or trust, said California estate planning lawyer Scott Schomer.<\/p>\n

It remains unclear whether any estate or trust funds are being used to pay Nick\u2019s legal fees, and no court filings reviewed by The Post detail how his defense is being financed at this stage.<\/p>\n

The couple has three children, including eldest Jake (right) and youngest Romy (left). michelereiner\/Instagram<\/p>\n

Rob Reiner also has an adopted daughter from his first marriage, Tracy. <\/p>\n

Nick\u2019s older brother, Jake, and younger sister, Romy<\/a>, or others in line for the inheritance could request a trustee of the estate disperse enough funds to Nick so he has an adequate attorney, Schomer said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSort of like a CEO to shareholders, a trustee works for the beneficiaries,\u201d said Schomer, who is also a Loyola Law School professor.<\/p>\n

Follow The Post\u2019s live updates on the death of famed director Rob Reiner<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cA trustee is holding the assets that belong to the beneficiaries and is making decisions about what to do with the money.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe they want to see their brother defended,\u201d the lawyer added, noting Nick\u2019s mental health and drug issues.<\/p>\n

Nick could also get money if a trust fund was set up just for him before his parents\u2019 violent deaths \u2014 but again he would likely need his siblings or others connected to the estate to approve it, Schomer said.<\/p>\n

Reiner sported an anti-suicide smock on Wednesday. REUTERS<\/p>\n

Doling out funds to Nick even from his own trust could be a liability to the trustee, he added, because if he\u2019s found guilty of murder, he wasn\u2019t entitled to that money.<\/p>\n

California lawyer Neama Rahmani also said Nick could use funds from a personal trust if he has one, but cautioned that the trustee could stop existing payments \u201cbecause the payments no longer further the purposes of the trust,\u201d possibly opening up a legal battle between that trustee and Nick.<\/p>\n

Schomer speculated Nick could also have his own money stashed away to pay for his legal team or Jackson could be taking the case on for free in return for the mountains of publicity. <\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the latest on the death of Rob Reiner:<\/p>\n

Ultimately, if Reiner is found guilty, he wouldn\u2019t get any funds from his parents\u2019 estate under state law, said Rahmani, of West Coast Trial Lawyers.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou kill your parents, the law presumes you predecease them,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Even if Reiner is found not guilty \u2014 for instance, by reason of insanity \u2014 there could be a legal fight in civil court to stop him from collecting money from the Reiners\u2019 estate.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe basic idea is that someone should not profit from such a heinous and horrible act,\u201d Schomer said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou shouldn\u2019t profit from murdering someone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nick was arrested Sunday night hours after the double slaying and has since been held behind bars.<\/p>\n

He made a brief court appearance Wednesday, but his arraignment, when he will enter a plea, was pushed off until Jan. 7.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rob Reiner\u2019s troubled son Nick won\u2019t see a penny of his famous family\u2019s fortune if he\u2019s convicted of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":102129,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8,55495,52134,55496,3586],"class_list":{"0":"post-102128","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-california","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-california-headlines","10":"tag-california-news","11":"tag-inheritance","12":"tag-rob-reiner","13":"tag-rob-reiner-murder","14":"tag-us-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102128"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102128\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}