Nick Reiner is demanding access to money from a trust set up by his late parents, Rob and Michele Reiner, as he waits to stand trial for their murders.
According to court documents obtained by TMZ, the 32-year-old filed a petition Monday asking for money he claims should have been distributed to him when he turned 30.
Nick, who has pleaded not guilty, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder after allegedly stabbing his parents to death in December.
In the new filing, Nick claims he tried to hire attorney Alan Jackson to represent him in the murder case. He says his siblings, Jake and Romy Reiner, agreed to the plan.
But according to Nick, the trustee refused to pay Jackson, leading the attorney to leave the case.
Nick said he warned the trustee that “time is of the essence,” claiming he needed Jackson’s help to avoid “further jeopardizing my defense in the criminal matter.”
He also claimed his attempts to get the money have been “met only with delay and inaction.”
Nick is now seeking accounting and damages from the trustee.
The court papers say Rob and Michele Reiner created the trust in 1992 for their three children, Nick, Jake and Romy. Nick claims he currently has no other way to pay for legal fees or basic support while he remains behind bars.
The family tragedy has continued to unfold publicly in the months since Rob and Michele were killed.
TMZ previously reported that Nick’s siblings, Jake and Romy, had no plans to pay for a private lawyer for him after Jackson stepped away from the case.
In April, Jake shared an emotional post about the loss of his parents just days before Nick’s preliminary hearing.
“I was robbed of so many things that day,” Jake wrote. “My parents won’t be at my wedding, they won’t get to hold their future grandchild, and they won’t get to see me have the successful career I’m still seeking.”
Jake also said his sister Romy would speak about the tragedy “in her own way and in her time.”
Nick appeared in court on April 29 for his preliminary hearing, where it was revealed that autopsies for Rob and Michele had still not been completed four months after their deaths.
The judge pushed the hearing back to September because investigators were still waiting on key evidence for discovery.
What's Up Team
EFF him in the biden!