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Nick Reiner seeks trust fund money for parent murder defense
Nick Reiner, the son of legendary US movie director Rob Reiner, is demanding access to a $1.5 million trust fund set up by the parents he is charged with murdering, court documents show.
A 136-page petition filed in Los Angeles says Reiner should have begun receiving the money two years ago, and his inability to access it left him unable to pay the expensive attorney who had originally represented him after his arrest over the December stabbing of his mother and father.
"Nick loved his parents, and he is devastated by their deaths," the petition, filed Monday, says.
"But the facts about what did and did not happen to them are not at issue in this trust litigation."
The 32-year-old was arrested on December 14 after the bodies of his filmmaker father and his mother, photographer Michele Singer Reiner, were discovered at their home in the upmarket Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles.
Prosecutors said 79-year-old Reiner -- who helmed huge hits including "When Harry Met Sally" and "A Few Good Men" -- and his wife, 70, were knifed to death.
Nick Reiner is one of three children they had together. Rob Reiner also adopted a child during his first marriage.
Monday's filing says the trust was one of three set up for their children with "unambiguous instructions" as part of an estate plan established in 1993.
According to the petition, Nick Reiner should have received half of the money when he turned 30, with the other half available to him five years later.
His attorneys say the awards are mandatory and unconditional.
"They were a commitment by Nick's parents, in the most binding way the law of trusts allows, that these resources would belong to Nick for his use and benefit," the petition says.
Reiner was originally represented by celebrity attorney Alan Jackson, who left the case a short time later. The petition says Reiner's inability to access the trust money meant he could not pay the lawyer.
Reiner, who has a history of addiction, has pleaded not guilty to murder charges. He remains in jail and his case is next expected to be dealt with in September.
If convicted as charged, Reiner could face life in prison without parole, or the death penalty, although California does not typically carry out capital punishment.
In April his brother paid emotional tribute to the men's parents, calling their deaths "almost too impossible to process."
"We lost more than half of our family that night in the most violent way imaginable," Jake Reiner wrote in his first detailed public remarks about the killings.
Rob Reiner, the son of legendary comedian Carl Reiner, started his showbiz career in acting.
He won fame as the oafish son-in-law Michael "Meathead" Stivic on groundbreaking 1970s sitcom "All in the Family," before transitioning to directing.
As a director, he struck Hollywood gold.
His output included classic films like 1984's rock music mockumentary "This is Spinal Tap," fantasy gem "The Princess Bride" from 1987, and seminal coming-of-age movie "Stand By Me."
"A Few Good Men," starring Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson, earned an Oscar nomination for Best Picture.
D. O'Sullivan--BTZ
