Nick Reiner, the 32-year-old son of the late filmmaker Rob Reiner, has filed a 136-page legal petition seeking the release of funds from a family trust established by his parents — money he says he needs to rehire the prominent defense attorney who dropped his double murder case earlier this year.
Reiner, who is awaiting trial as the main suspect in the December 2025 stabbing deaths of his parents, Rob and Michele Reiner, claims the trust was supposed to distribute half its funds to him on his 30th birthday and the remainder when he turns 35, and that the trustee has withheld both disbursements without justification.
“The terms of Nick’s Trust are not complicated, and they are not subject to reasonable dispute,” the filing states, arguing the distributions were “mandatory and unconditional” under the terms his parents set out.
The petition identifies high-profile criminal defense attorney Alan Jackson as the intended beneficiary of the funds. Jackson withdrew from Reiner’s case on January 7, 2026, after anticipated funding never came through, leaving Reiner represented by the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office. The filing states Jackson has since expressed willingness to return if funds become available.
The document is explicit about Reiner’s circumstances: “Nick has no other means — to pay for his legal expenses, or for his basic support needs while incarcerated.” The petition stresses that the trust assets belong to Reiner independently and are distinct from his parents’ estate.
The case has moved slowly through the courts since Rob and Michele Reiner were found stabbed to death in their Brentwood home on December 14, 2025. Nick was arrested that same evening, picked up by police about 15 miles from his parents’ home. He is charged with two counts of first-degree murder with the special circumstance of multiple murders — a designation that puts the death penalty on the table.
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At a late April hearing, a judge pushed proceedings to the fall after prosecutors said autopsy reports remained pending and that more than two terabytes of digital evidence still needed review. Reiner has remained in custody without bail throughout. His next court appearance is scheduled for September 15.
Nick Reiner had a well-documented history of addiction and mental health struggles before his arrest, including 18 stints in rehabilitation by the age of 30, and had previously been the subject of a court-approved conservatorship. Despite those circumstances, Jackson — after his January withdrawal — maintained publicly that the legal process would ultimately reveal his former client’s innocence.
