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4h ago

Trustees Block Nick Reiner’s $1.5 Million Trust Distribution Under California Slayer Law

Trustees told a probate judge they should withhold the age‑30 payout to avoid irreversible transfers if a court later finds Reiner ineligible under the state’s slayer statute.

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Nick Reiner appears with Deputy Public Defender Kimberly Greene during his arraignment in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Feb. 23, 2026.
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Nick Reiner

Overview

  • Reiner asked the probate court in June to release an age‑30 distribution he says the trust holds worth at least $1.5 million to pay legal fees and commissary costs while he is jailed.
  • Trustees Paul Kanin and incoming fiduciary Jodi Pais Montgomery formally opposed the request in filings this month and asked the court to withhold the payout under California Probate Code §250, known as the slayer statute.
  • The slayer statute bars anyone who "feloniously and intentionally" kills a settlor from taking under a trust, and it lets a probate court find ineligibility by a preponderance of the evidence even without a criminal conviction.
  • Prosecutors have indicted Reiner on two counts of first‑degree murder with special‑circumstance allegations; he has pleaded not guilty and remains jailed with a pretrial hearing scheduled next month.
  • If the probate court applies the statute, trustees say Reiner’s share would shift to his siblings Jake and Romy and that releasing money now could be irreversible and undermine fiduciary duties to other beneficiaries.