Nick Reiner, charged in the murders of his parents, filmmaker Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner, is heading to Los Angeles probate court on October 23rd to fight for access to a trust worth more than $1.5 million that he says he needs to pay for his criminal defense.
The former trustee distributed close to $350,000, which allowed Reiner to hire defense attorney Alan Jackson for about two weeks; after funds were cut off Reiner moved to a public defender.
In this episode of Criminally Obsessed, investigative reporter Anne Emerson speaks with asset protection attorney Ann-Margaret Carrozza, a former New York state legislator who chaired her state's trust committee (and who is not involved in the case, though, coincidentally, the former trustee of Nick Reiner's trust wrote her children's trust), to break down how this trust works and why this case is so unusual. Carrozza explains revocable vs. irrevocable trusts, who controls the money as trustee, and why she believes Nick Reiner's interest may have vested when the trust was funded in 1993, the year he was born, a point his defense is likely to make since the trustee already released funds. She also explains California's slayer statute barring one who feloniously and intentionally kills from taking, why probate court can decide it now by a preponderance of the evidence without waiting for a criminal conviction beyond a reasonable doubt, and why intent could matter with reported diagnoses discussed in the episode. She addresses whether money tracing to his grandfather, Carl Reiner, changes the picture, whether money paid to defense counsel could be clawed back after a finding of responsibility, the reports of a second larger family trust, and why she expects the probate court as a court of equity to weigh Jake and Romy's interests as potential takers against Nick Reiner's need for a rigorous defense, plus what parents can take from this when setting distribution standards for their own children.
Nick Reiner is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Check out Ann-Margaret's book, The Smart Woman's Guide to Building and Protecting Wealth: The Laws of Your Money.
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