Nick Reiner might reportedly have the option to use his family’s wealth to cover his legal expenses after being accused of murdering his parents.
The 32-year-old son of Hollywood director and actor Rob Reiner is facing two charges of first-degree murder.
Rob and his wife of 30 years, Michele Singer Reiner, were discovered dead in their Brentwood, Los Angeles residence on December 14, in what law enforcement has called an apparent ‘homicide’.
According to the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office, the couple, who had three children, were stabbed to death. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office has ruled their cause of death as ‘multiple sharp force injuries’.
Their youngest, daughter Romy, aged 28, reportedly discovered the bodies in their $13.5 million mansion and subsequently contacted emergency services.
Reiner has engaged high-profile celebrity lawyer Alan Jackson for his defense. A legal expert has commented on whether Reiner could utilize his parents’ wealth to cover his legal fees.
Hello! Magazine estimates that the Reiners’ estate is valued at $200 million.
Estate planning lawyer Scott Schomer explained to The New York Post that Nick might be able to access the estate funds if his siblings, Jake and Romy, or other potential heirs, agreed to it.
“Sort of like a CEO to shareholders, a trustee works for the beneficiaries,” Schomer mentioned, according to The New York Post. “A trustee is holding the assets that belong to the beneficiaries and is making decisions about what to do with the money.”
California attorney Neama Rahmani told the outlet that Nick might receive payments if a trust fund was established before his parents’ deaths, but other trustees could intervene to halt distributions if they no longer ‘further the purposes of the trust’.
Schomer also indicated that if Nick is convicted, trustees who approved such payments could face liability for their decisions.
Sean Weissbart, an estates and trust attorney at Blank Rome LLP, noted that if convicted under the ‘Slayer’ law, Reiner would be barred from inheriting from his parents’ estate.
He explained to People: “California has what’s called a slayer statute, which says if you kill someone that you’re going to inherit from, you lose your inheritance and any right to serve as a fiduciary of their estate. So assuming he’s convicted of this murder, he’s out as beneficiary, along with any fiduciary appointments he may have.”
Weissbart further stated that should there be a conviction, Reiner ‘would be disqualified, and everything would just get divided — probably — into three equal shares [instead]’.
It remains ambiguous if Nick currently has access to, or intends to use, the Reiner estate to support his legal defense.
Moments prior to his arrest, CCTV footage captured the couple’s eldest son walking around a gas station store in Exposition Park.
After being charged with the federal murder charge, which could lead to the death penalty if convicted, Reiner was scheduled to have his first court appearance on Tuesday (December 16). However, Jackson stated he was unable to attend due to medical reasons.