Judge schedules Nick Reiner trust fund hearing

LOS ANGELES (NBC, KYMA) - Nick Reiner, Rob and Michele Reiner's son, is seeking access his more than $1.5 million trust fund to pay for his legal defense in their double-murder case.

Reiner filed a petition in June, arguing that the first payment from the trust fund should have been provided to him three years ago when he turned 30.

But, attorneys who run he trust want to block the payment, citing a California law known as the Slayer Statue, which states that a person cannot be paid from a trust if they killed the person who established the legal document.

At Monday's probate hearing, a judge scheduled a hearing on the matter for October.

The decision is one that will likely be a key factor in Reiner's ability to pay for a lawyer to defend him in the double-murder trial.

"I'm very pleased that Judge Garcia gave this case priority and is giving this case priority by putting it on the calendar as early as it possibly can. He understands that there is a time sensitivity issue. Nick Reiner is very much entitled to his own money, his own funds, and that's what this process is about. He has made the determination that he wants to be able to use his funds that are in his trust account to decide on his criminal counsel. And when he is allowed to do that, he will then be able to defend himself in the way that the Constitution indicates he should and can defend himself."

Alan Jackson, Nick Reiner's former attorney

A pretrial hearing in Reiner's murder trial is set for the fall.

It was not immediately clear whether the probate court timeline to hear the trust case will affect the start of the criminal case.