Jon Blistein
Contact Jon Blistein by Email View all posts by Jon Blistein June 9, 2026
Nick Reiner claimed in a probate petition that he has been owed some money from the trust since he turned 30 in 2023. Chris Torres-Pool/Getty Images Nick Reiner is demanding access to his more than $1.5 million trust to cover legal fees as he faces charges for allegedly murdering his parents, Rob and Michele Reiner.
In a petition filed in California probate court Monday (June 8), Nick claimed that a trust his parents set up for him when he was a kid contained “unambiguous instructions about when the funds” were to be released. The first half was supposed to be “distributed to Nick outright when he turned 30,” per the petition, while the rest of the funds were to be issued when he turned 35.
“These distributions are mandatory and unconditional,” the petition states.
But, according to Nick, he did not receive any money when he turned 30 in 2023, nor has he been able to secure the release of any funds since. He claims that the current trustee, Paul Kanin, has “offered a shifting series of excuses and justifications” to withhold the funds. These include, the petition claims, “unsubstantiated ‘concerns’ about Nick’s so-called competence to ‘manage a trust.’”
Kanin has allegedly insisted that, before any funds are released, Nick meet with either him or his successor, Jodi Montgomery, to assess whether Nick can exercise good judgment over matters related to the trust. Montgomery has also allegedly said she wants Nick to meet with a “criminal consultant” she’s hired to discuss his case. (The petition further alleges that Montgomery has already hired a consultant to advise her, “presumably at Nick’s expense,” using money from the trust.)
Kanin and Montgomery did not immediately return requests for comment.
The petition argues that “conditioning” the release of money that should’ve already been paid to Nick when he turned 30 “exceeds any legitimate fiduciary diligence under the trust.” The petition further stated Nick’s exact reasons for wanting the money: to cover “his legal expenses,” and so he can “buy basic support items,” like socks and hygiene products, and the jail commissary.
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“Given the present circumstances, it is an abuse of the Trustee’s discretion to refuse those requests. Nick is currently awaiting trial on double homicide charges. No use of his funds could be more important,” the petition states.
The petition further notes that Nick would use the money from his trust to re-hire the prominent defense attorney Alan Jackson. Jackson was originally slated to represent Nick in the criminal proceedings, but he abruptly stepped down in January, citing “circumstances beyond our control, but more importantly, circumstances beyond Nick’s control.” (Nick has since been working with a public defender.)
