Nick Reiner’s trust fight heads to mediation as lawyers seek jail commissary funds

Nick Reiner’s fight for access to a trust set up by his parents is headed to mediation after lawyers told a Los Angeles judge on Friday, October 23, that they had scheduled talks. The dispute matters to Reiner’s effort to pay for his defense against charges that he killed Rob and Michele Reiner, to which he has pleaded not guilty.

‘All parties have now scheduled a global mediation,’ Reiner’s trust lawyer Anita Wu told Judge Ruben Garcia, according to Rolling Stone. The talks are set for December 16 before retired Judge Mitchell L. Beckloff. That is a date for negotiations, rather than an agreement to release the money.

What happened at the Nick Reiner trust hearing

A lawyer for trustee Jodi Montgomery also asked Garcia to authorize payments into Reiner’s jail commissary account, Rolling Stone reported. Montgomery’s lawyer, Lauriann Wright, said the account could hold no more than $300 at a time. Deadline separately reported that Wu sought $300 from the trust for Reiner’s immediate needs in custody. Neither account established that the judge had approved the request.

Why Reiner and the trustee dispute the money

Reiner argues that his parents’ instructions entitled him to half of the trust when he turned 30 on September 14, 2023, according to Rolling Stone. The trustee’s position, as described by the magazine, is that the money should remain withheld while the parties resolve whether California’s Slayer Statute applies. Reiner disputes its application to money he says was already his at 30.

The two outlets give different totals for the trust: Rolling Stone reports $1.7 million, while Deadline describes it as $1.5 million. Deadline frames the mediation question more narrowly as whether Reiner can receive a significant share of roughly $550,000 it says he was apparently eligible for when he turned 30.

Wu told Deadline she hoped for a fair resolution with the trustee and argued that Reiner should be able to use money lawfully his to pay for his chosen lawyer, Alan Jackson. Wright also expressed hope after the hearing that the mediation would produce a deal, Rolling Stone reported. Jackson previously represented Reiner in the criminal case; both outlets connect his departure to payment issues.

Reiner has pleaded not guilty to charges over the December 14, 2025, deaths of his parents in their Brentwood home, Rolling Stone reported. The next hearing in the criminal case is scheduled for January 13, 2027. The trust talks are scheduled separately for December 16, with Garcia’s review of any possible settlement set for March.