Nick Reiner’s DESPERATE Cash Grab for Murder Defense?!

Nick Reiner, accused of killing his. parents Rob and Michelle Reiner, wants. to use that money he says that they left. him in a trust to pay for his own murder. defense. But, there's an argument that a. certain law, it's over a century old, bars him from touching it. There was a. key court hearing that happened earlier. today, and we're going to talk with Law. & Crime correspondent Julia Dang, who is. right there inside that courtroom. >> [music]. >> to give us a first-hand look at what. happened and what we can expect next.

Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law &. Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. New legal hearing in the Nick Reiner. case. Nick Reiner, of course, accused of. killing his parents Rob and Michelle. Reiner. He's entangled in this new and. intense legal battle that is kind of. separate from his criminal case, but is. directly affecting his criminal case. Because what he's doing is he's trying. to seek access to these funds, this. money that is held in a trust that his. parents set up for him. And he claims, his team claims that he's owed more than.

half a million dollars before their. deaths, years before their deaths. And. now, that money is at the center of one. legal fight as he also awaits trial on. the murder charges. So, Nick Reiner. turned 30 in September of 2023. And. under the terms of a trust that his. parents established decades ago, he. claims that that is when he should have. started receiving this money, 2023. So, before the deaths of his parents. But, there's a twist. There's a twist that. makes this fight uncomfortable. That.

money is now caught up in California's. so-called slayer statute. This is a law. that can prevent someone from profiting. from a killing that they intentionally. committed. But, the keyword there is. committed. It hasn't been proven that. Reiner committed these killings. He. hasn't been convicted. He's pleaded not. guilty. But, California law seemingly. allows a probate court to make its own. determination without a criminal. conviction. And the fight is also about. whether this particular distribution was. already due to Reiner before his parents. died, meaning the slayer statute.

wouldn't apply. So now a judge has to. rule on whether Reiner, an accused. killer, should be able to access his. deceased parents' money while he's. literally awaiting trial for their. alleged murders. And even potentially. being able to use that money to fund his. own legal defense. You see how tricky it. gets? So according to the petition that. was filed by Reiner's trust attorney, Anita Woo, this specific trust, the Nick. Reiner Children's Trust, was set up all. the way back in 1993. when Reiner was a baby. And according to.

Reiner's legal team, the terms were not. very complicated. Basically, it says. that when the beneficiary hits 30, he. would get half the balance. And when he. hits 35, he gets the rest. Now Reiner's. lawyers argue that these distributions. are quote mandatory and unconditional. That they were a commitment by his. parents that these resources would. belong to him. So Reiner turned 30 on. September 14th, 2023. Says he never got. this money, and then just over 2 years. later his parents are found dead in. their Brentwood home. Nick Reiner's.

arrested, and this is the problem. This. is now a big legal problem. So Reiner's. petition claims that after he retained. the trust counsel in April of 2026, the. then trustee, Paul Kanan, started giving. him a shifting series of excuses for why. he wasn't releasing the money. Now one. reason being, according to Reiner's. attorneys, is that Kanan apparently had. reason to believe that he'd already. received the money. Then in May of 2026, Reiner's lawyer say the trustee. confirmed he never got the funds. But.

then, according to the petition, the. trustee dropped a new excuse. He claimed. he had quote "unresolved concerns about. Nick's mental competence." Allegedly. said he needed to meet with Nick. face-to-face to figure out if Nick had. the capacity to make sound decisions and. adequately protect his own interest. before he would release anything. But here's the catch. According to the. trust own definition of incompetence, you have to be judicially declared. incompetent or two licensed physicians. have to put it in writing. Nick's legal.

team argue neither has happened. And. they point out that even if Nick was. deemed incompetent, the trust rules. don't say the trustee can keep the. money. They just say that the trustee. can route the money to someone else like. a lawyer to pay for the bills. And so, that brings us to why this matters so. much now because Nick Riner wants to. seemingly hire back his original defense. attorney, Alan Jackson, who was hired. the day after Nick's arrest. Remember. the attorney for Karen Read, high-profile criminal defense attorney?

Now, Jackson states in his declaration. that he is, quote, ready, willing, and. able to resume representing Nick and. that he's even willing to negotiate. reasonable alternatives to the original. fee arrangement. But, he does need to. get paid and Riner's petition states he. has no other resources to pay him. So, this really is both about the fund and. Alan Jackson making a potential return. here to defend Nick Riner. And what's. interesting when you think about this. is, doesn't it tell us that by all. accounts Nick Riner does want to defend.

this case, that he's not going to plead. guilty? We've talked about it before. Is. there a potential mental health defense. in play? Is there a potential mental capacity. defense at play? Could get complicated, could get expensive, hire experts. So, you're seeing all of this as a way for. Nick Riner to potentially defend himself. at his murder trial. All right, big. shout-out and thanks to Rocket Money for. sponsoring this episode of Sidebar. You. know, look, going through your bank. statements, I think you realize.

sometimes that your subscriptions had. increased in price and you had no idea. Now, here's the good news. You use. Rocket Money, you won't be blindsided. again. Why do I say that? So, Rocket. Money subscription management feature is. amazing because it automatically tracks. subscriptions in one place. They also. help you cancel unwanted ones in app. with just a few taps. It is such a. game-changer. You can securely connect. your checking and savings account and. loans and investments to get a clear. picture of your finances. And with their. alerts and notifications feature, you'll. get real-time alerts for the things you.

should know about like upcoming bills, refunds, and new subscription, large. transactions. You'll be able to see. exactly how your money moved. So, go to. rocketmoney.com/law. to get started. You can also scan the QR. code or click the link in my. description. Unlock even more features. when you sign up for premium. Hope you. can check it out. So, with all that in. mind, I give you context, let's talk. about it. Okay, so now it's time to. bring on law crime correspondent Julia. Dang, who is in this courtroom. She was. in the court earlier in the week, a. different courtroom, the criminal. courtroom, now in this probate courtroom.

to talk about this other chapter, this. other layer of the Nick Reiner case. Thank you so much for coming on. I think. the best place to start, just so our. audience and viewers are clear, who is. in the courtroom? Like, who is there? Who's representing who? Let's just get a. lay of the land about who's in the. court. >> Absolutely. So, Jesse, different. courthouse, different case here, um but. of course we've talked about how this is. so intertwined with the criminal case. because this probate hearing could. determine how Nick Reiner is able to.

mount his criminal defense. So, who is. there? Well, the LA County public. defender representing Nick in the. criminal matter, in his first-degree. murder case, she was here today. She was. standing at the counsel table right. beside Nick's probate attorney, Anita. Woo. She's the one who filed the. 136-page. probate petition on behalf of Nick back. in June that triggered this case. Um.

there was also an attorney for the. trustee, [screaming]. Jodi Montgomery, um and we did interview. that attorney just now outside of the. courthouse, but I can tell you who was. not here. Alan Jackson, the private. defense attorney who previously. represented. Nick, who's been trying to come back and. take the case back if Nick is able to. access the trust fund money being argued. over in this probate case, Alan Jackson.

was not here today. Um and that was. notable because he was planning on being. here. He was at the probate hearing in. August, um but he reportedly sustained. [screaming] some kind of major injury. and has to see a surgeon. So, he was not. here. Everybody else was. Uh Nick is not. required to be present for these. proceedings, so he was not here in. probate court, but Nick will be. appearing remotely during mediation, and. that has now been set for December 16th.

>> So, yeah, first of all, I know Alan. Jackson. I hope he's okay. It's a really. distressing thing. I mean, he's the type. of guy that would be there if he could. be there. So, I don't know what he's. going through, but that's a really. concerning thing and a shocking thing, to say the least. So, what exactly. happened in court today? It wasn't a. relatively long hearing, but we kind of. got a sample of what we might be able to. expect, right? >> It was a pretty brief hearing. They did. make a couple decisions. It sounds like.

all parties have agreed to a schedule. for mediation to talk about a. settlement. So, mediation is going to be. private. We are not going to be present. for that, but if they're able to reach a. settlement after negotiating again on. December 16th, um they would file that. settlement with the court, and then this. probate judge, Ruben Garcia, he would. have to sign off on it. So, all parties. had been ordered to come back, um. hopefully with that settlement finalized. and ready for the judge to sign off on.

uh on March 17th. So, that's the next. time that we're going to be in this. courthouse. Uh, this is a different. courthouse. This is not where we've been. covering the criminal matter. Again, the. double first-degree murder charges. against Nick Reiner. Now, the timing of. all of this is interesting because the. criminal matter is going to be back in. court in mid-January. And again, we're. not back here until mid-March. So, the.

sum of money being argued over, it could. be more than half a million dollars. Nick Reiner was supposed to get a. fractional payout, uh, just about half. of the money in his trust fund that was. created for him right after he was born. He was supposed to get about $558,000. as soon as he turned 30. That was supposed to be paid out to him. more than 2 years before his parents'.

horrific killings. So, in a nutshell, his probate attorneys are arguing that. the slayer statute should not apply. here. It didn't matter whether or not. his parents were living or dead, he. should have gotten that payout more than. 2 years ago, and he never did. So, I had. the opportunity, um, to ask the attorney. representing his trustee why that didn't. happen. >> So, there is a dispute over that. We've. done our own investigation, and the.

trustee at the time, Mr. Fishburn, has. told us that he spoke to Nick's mom, Michelle, and Michelle said she had. spoken to Nick, and that he decided to. keep that money in the trust. So, that's. what we know, and since it's in the. trust, all the trust rules apply, and the law, the slayer statute, would also still. apply to those monies. >> And just to be clear, this attorney who. was in court today, Lori Ann Wright, she. is representing Jody Montgomery. She's. the current trustee. The trustee who was.

supposed to issue this fractional payout. to Nick Reiner when he turned 30 in. 2023, that was two trustees ago. That. trustee's name is Matthew Fishburne. We. have not seen him in court. Um he no. longer has anything to do with this. trust, but every time it changed hands, it went from Matthew Fishburne to Paul. Kanan, and then Paul Kanan to the.

current trustee Jody Montgomery. Every. time that happened, apparently the. accounts were frozen and there were. delays in accessing the money. Now, here's one more issue that came up today. that I thought would be cashed out and. decided upon in court. Apparently, Nick. Reiner doesn't have any money in his. commissary account. So, his probate. attorney asked for the judge to. authorize uh nominal payments. We're.

talking less than $300 because that's. the maximum amount that an LA County. inmate can have in their account at any. time. So, they're asking for $300 uh to. be released from his trust fund into. that account, but the attorney for the. trustee is saying the Slayer Statute. applies to any amount of money. We can't. even give him $300. for him to buy things like socks and. soap behind bars. >> And did the judge give an indication. about what what's going to happen with.

respect to that nominal money? >> Judge Ruben Garcia did not make a. decision on funds being released to. Nick's commissary account today. All he. said was he has to think about it. >> Talk to me about what else did Ms. Wright say in your interview with her? >> Uh she talked about not just the uh the. children's trust fund, which is what. Nick's trust fund was called when his. parents created it right after he was.

born. She also laid out for me how this is one. of several different buckets of family. money. This trust fund, of which Nick is. the sole beneficiary, this is the focus. of this probate matter. But, keep in. mind Rob and Michelle Reiner have also. left behind money. as part of their family estate. That's. part of a separate family trust. And and.

on that matter, I I could see how the. California Slayer Statute could apply. But, that's not the bucket of money that. Nick is trying to access here. Laurie. and Wright, the attorney for the. trustee, also talked about how money. from Carl Reiner, that's Rob Reiner's. father, how son inheritance money may. have actually ended up in Nick Reiner's. trust fund. So, they're trying to figure. out how that happened, exactly what.

amount that would be, and how that might. factor into, again, the fractional. payment that Nick is now fighting for so. that he can rehire Alan Jackson, who, by. the way, says that he's willing to work. out a deal or a discount with Nick. Reiner. It sounds like he really wants. to come back and take this case back. from the LA County Public Defender. >> And we don't have an idea about like how. much money Nick could ultimately get. here to fund his defense, which as you.

and I have talked about before, it's not. just hiring private counsel like Alan. Jackson, who, you know, there's a. quality of representation there. He's a. high-profile attorney. You're you're. purchasing those services services your. services. But, also, if you're talking about a. potential mental health defense, that can get costly with experts being. hired and having to do evaluations. but. we don't have an idea about how much. money, you know, if there's a negotiated. settlement here, how much money he would. get. Um or even tell me this, is it just they.

don't want to fight this out? I mean, do. they feel like his Nick Rynearson's. arguments are strong that he is entitled. to this money? I mean, this idea of. perhaps a a mediation, a negotiated. settlement, do we have any idea about. why it would get to that point? >> I have a feeling, Jesse, this is all. going to get figured out in mediation. Because if they continue fighting this. out, it's just going to cost everybody. more time and money. And Nick, it sounds.

like desperately needs those funds. Um. not just for his legal defense in the. criminal case, but also just to to get. through, you know, his incarceration. Um he has basic needs that his attorneys. argue are not being met right now. He he. can't even buy shampoo if he doesn't. have any money in his commissary. account. So, we do know um the total. estimated amount of his trust fund is. somewhere around 1.63.

million dollars. And a fractional payout. that he says he was due more than 2. years ago, that's about $558,000. So, we did ask the trustee's attorney um. what dollar amount could this settlement. amount to. She didn't give us a dollar. amount, um but it sounds to me like all. parties are on board with figuring this. out in mediation. Um that could happen. as as early as mid-December, and this.

order could be signed off by the judge. the next time we're here, March 17th. >> Just to put a button on this point, do. we know how Nick's siblings feel about. this? >> We don't. They haven't spoken publicly. on this matter. We do know, this is. according to the probate filing that. kicked off this whole case. We do know. they apparently verbally agreed to act. as third-party payers when Alan Jackson.

was first hired. Alan got a call from. the family representative back on. December 15th. This was immediately. after. we we first became aware of the. killings. Um and and Nick was arrested. Alan Jackson got this call. He signed a. retainer with Nick 2 days later on. December 17th. He was in New York at the. time and he immediately started doing. the work necessary to prepare this. defense. Um we don't know what happened.

We don't know what was said. Jake and. Romy Reiner, the siblings of defendant. Nick Reiner, they haven't spoken. publicly on on the finances involved, but it sounds like at some point they. stepped back. Um and and perhaps they. were no longer willing to act as. third-party payers. And it was after. that change that Alan Jackson. said he had no choice but to withdraw. That happened during a court hearing.

that was actually supposed to be the. arraignment on January 7th. That was. when the public defender Kimberly Green. was appointed and that's why the. arraignment got pushed back to February. 23rd. So it's just been one thing after. another and during all of this, keep in. mind a young man. with diagnosed mental health conditions, he's behind bars right now. He wants to. rehire his defense attorney. They they want this matter to move.

forward. So the sooner all parties show. up for mediation, I think the sooner. they can get this ball rolling. >> Julia, I mean, thank you so much for. explaining all that to us. Um. you know, look, we're kind of in a wait. and see. I think if he gets these funds, it is going to drastically impact how he. defends himself in this case. And by all. accounts, he wants to defend himself in. this case. I mean, to spend this money, it's not as if hiring Alan Jackson to. just plead guilty. Doesn't sound like.

that's happening. What that defense will. be, what we can expect, I mean, it seems. like it's all it's all dependent on this. money. So, Julia, thank you so much. Excellent reporting as always. Really. appreciate it. That's all we have for. you right now here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank you so much for joining. us. >> [music]. >> I'm Jesse Weber. See you next time.