Rob Reiner’s Son Nick Could Be Ineligible for Inheritance Because of ‘Slayer Statute’: Legal Experts (Exclusive)

Nick Reiner was arrested on Dec. 15 in connection to the double homicide of his parents, Rob and Michele

In the wake of Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner’s tragic murders on Sunday, Dec. 14, the couple leaves behind an estate amassed over decades in Hollywood.

Rob, 78, and Michele, 70, are survived by their three children — Jake, 34, Nick, 32, and Romy, 28. Rob was also father to daughter Tracy, 61, from his first marriage to the late Penny Marshall.

Romy found her parents dead in their Brentwood, Los Angeles, home, sources told PEOPLE. Hours later, police arrested Nick in connection with the murders near the University of Southern California campus. Nick will be charged with two counts of first-degree murder with a special allegation that used a knife, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced at a press conference on Tuesday, Dec. 16.

Nick’s lawyer, Alan Jackson, confirmed to reporters that he is representing Nick, telling the press outside Los Angeles Superior Court that his client would not be making his first scheduled court appearance on Tuesday because he hadn’t been medically cleared.

According to estate and trusts attorney Sean Weissbart, a partner at Blank Rome LLP who is not connected to the case, Nick will become ineligible to inherit from his parents’ estate if he is ultimately convicted of the crime, per a particular state law.

Rob Reiner, Michele Singer Reiner, Romy Reiner and Nick Reiner on Sept. 9, 2025.Todd Williamson/JanuaryImages/Shutterstock

“California has what’s called a slayer statute, which says if you kill someone that you’re going to inherit from, you lose your inheritance and any right to serve as a fiduciary of their estate. So assuming he’s convicted of this murder, he’s out as beneficiary, along with any fiduciary appointments he may have,” Weissbart explains.

A fiduciary appointment is “an executor, a trustee, [or] if they died without a will, which is probably unlikely, an administrator,” he adds.

According to Weissbart, having both a will and a revocable trust is “most common” when estate planning in California, and oftentimes, since it’s a community property state, “you’ll see that a married couple has a joint revocable trust.”

Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner in February 2025.John Nacion/Variety via Getty

Regardless of exactly how the Reiners chose to set up their estate plan, should Nick be convicted, he’ll likely never see a cent of any inheritance he would have been set to receive.

“Let’s assume that the four children got everything in equal shares. Nick would be disqualified, and everything would just go — probably — in three equal shares [instead],” Weissbart says.

In the event Nick isn’t convicted, however, the slayer statute can still apply.

“I was looking at the statute, and it doesn’t require an actual conviction. It requires a person who feloniously and intentionally killed the decedent. And so since the slayer statute is civil, arguably it could apply if the court determined that this person had committed this murder, even if, for some reason, the person could no longer be charged criminally — I don’t think that’s the case here,” says Weissbart. “What I would say is a felony conviction would be per se, [meaning] the slayer statute would apply, but it could arguably apply even if there was not yet a felony conviction.”

Prior to a felony conviction and/or any sort of civil determination on the matter, Nick should be able to see a possible trust instrument, a legal document that lays out estate plans, Weissbart says.

“I don’t think that just because someone is suspected of a crime that that would necessarily preclude them from seeing a will or finding out what they might have otherwise received,” Weissbart adds. “It’s not his obligation to bring the slayer statute. That’s the obligation of other people or the court.”