Lawyers for Nick Reiner and a family trust told a Los Angeles judge Friday they had agreed to mediation over whether he can use money set aside for him before his parents were killed to pay for his criminal defense, the Los Angeles Times reported¹.

The newspaper said the parties described a "global mediation" set to begin in mid-December, and that a judge would still have to approve any settlement¹. Reiner, 32, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the December 2025 stabbing deaths of Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner at their Brentwood home; he has pleaded not guilty and faces life without parole if convicted, the Times reported¹.

Reiner has sought $558,000 he says the trust was supposed to disburse on his 30th birthday in September 2023, more than two years before the killings, so he can rehire private counsel after Alan Jackson withdrew over the unpaid fees, according to the Times¹. He is represented by a Los Angeles County deputy public defender¹.

Counsel for the current trustee has argued California's so-called Slayer Statute bars him from accessing the funds because it restricts convicted killers from profiting from their crimes, the Times reported¹. Reiner's lawyers have said the statute does not apply because he has not been convicted and that the money was an irrevocable sum due on fixed dates, not a claim on the larger family estate¹.

Lauriann Wright, an attorney for the trustee, said she believes the parties could agree on some funds Reiner would have been eligible for before the deaths, but that amounts beyond that would be harder to settle, the Times reported¹. Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman said last month he will not seek the death penalty, according to the Times¹.

Sources

1. Los Angeles Times CaliforniaMediator to decide whether Nick Reiner's trust fund can pay for defense in murder caseOct 23, 1:15 PM

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