Is Nick Reiner’s $1.5 Million Trust Beyond the Reach of California’s Slayer Statute?

The question at the center of the Reiner trust litigation is not whether Nick Reiner should receive his parents’ money. It is whether the legal mechanism designed to prevent exactly that — California’s slayer statute — can reach money the trust itself reportedly classified as due before anyone was killed. The 136-page probate petition filed on Nick Reiner’s behalf argues that half of his trust distribution came due on September 14th, 2023, his thirtieth birthday, in a payout the trust describes as “mandatory and unconditional.” Rob and Michele Reiner were found dead in their Brentwood home twenty-seven months later. Nick has pleaded not guilty to both murder counts.Defense attorney and former felony prosecutor Eric Faddis examines the slayer statute’s actual mechanics against this timeline. Under California’s probate code, a court can apply the statute on a preponderance-of-the-evidence standard — a civil threshold that does not require a criminal conviction. That standard stripped Scott Peterson of his claim to Laci’s life insurance before his murder trial concluded. But the statute is built to prevent a killer from gaining through the killing. If the age-thirty distribution was already owed before the deaths, the legal question shifts: can a statute designed to block profit from a crime reach an obligation that predated the crime?Faddis addresses the procedural posture — an unopposed petition reportedly eligible for approval without a hearing — the trustee transition from Paul Kanin to Jodi Montgomery, the frozen family trusts, and whether Jake and Romy Reiner have standing to intervene. He also covers the Murdaugh retrial’s newly appointed judge and the significance of her reported professional history with defense counsel.Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspodX Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePodThis publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.#NickReiner #RobReiner #ReinerCase #SlayerStatute #TrustFund #EricFaddis #MicheleReiner #ScottPeterson #TrueCrime #HiddenKillers