What Happens to the Money After Rob Reiner’s Death? An Estate Lawyer Explains How California and U.S. Law Works

In the wake of international reports surrounding the alleged deaths of filmmaker Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner—and criminal charges involving their son—one question has surfaced repeatedly: what happens to the money when both parents die, and can an accused heir inherit? According to estate planning attorney Gideon Alper of Alper Law, the answers lie not in criminal court but in probate and trust law, an entirely separate legal track that can begin unfolding immediately after death, regardless of whether a criminal case is ongoing.

“Criminal courts decide punishment. Probate courts decide entitlement,” Alper explains. Even while a criminal case determines guilt or innocence, probate courts are empowered to address who is legally entitled to manage or receive assets. That separation often surprises families, particularly in high-profile or emotionally charged cases, because financial and administrative decisions cannot always wait for a criminal verdict.

When both parents die, what happens next depends largely on how assets were owned and whether an estate plan exists. If the couple established a revocable living trust, assets held inside the trust typically avoid probate. Upon death, the trust becomes irrevocable, and a successor trustee is legally obligated to administer it exactly as written—safeguarding assets, paying debts and taxes, and distributing property according to the trust’s terms.

If there is a will but assets were not placed in a trust, those assets generally pass through probate, a court-supervised process in which outstanding obligations are settled before beneficiaries receive distributions under the will. If there is no will or trust at all, state intestacy laws apply. In California and most other states, these laws prioritize spouses and children, but the resulting distribution may differ significantly from what the parents would have intended.

A key question raised in cases like this is whether a child accused of killing their parents can still inherit. Most U.S. states, including California, have what are commonly known as slayer statutes. These laws are designed to prevent anyone from financially benefiting from a death they intentionally caused. Under these rules, a person found to have feloniously and intentionally caused a death can be barred from inheriting under a will, trust, or intestacy law, and may also be prevented from serving as an executor, trustee, or beneficiary of life insurance proceeds.

Importantly, this determination does not require the conclusion of a criminal trial. Probate courts can make findings in civil proceedings that are legally separate from criminal cases, meaning inheritance questions may be addressed, restricted, or frozen while a criminal case is still ongoing.

In more sophisticated estate plans, some assets may be held in offshore structures such as Cook Islands trusts, which operate under foreign law rather than U.S. state probate systems. A Cook Islands trust is governed by the laws of the Cook Islands and is often used for asset protection, continuity planning, and jurisdictional certainty. When both parents who created the trust die, the trust generally continues to operate independently under its own terms.

In practical terms, assets held in a Cook Islands trust are typically outside domestic probate, distribution is controlled by the trust deed rather than state intestacy law, and an independent offshore trustee administers the trust according to instructions already in place. “Offshore trusts like Cook Islands trusts are designed to provide continuity and control even after the death of the settlors,” Alper explains. “They don’t automatically dissolve, and they don’t default to state inheritance rules. Still, even offshore trusts often include provisions similar to slayer statutes to prevent financial gain from intentional wrongdoing.”

While the Reiner case has drawn global attention because of the family’s profile, the legal issues it highlights are common across the United States. Many couples assume assets will automatically pass to their children without formal planning, trusts and wills often lack contingency clauses for extreme scenarios, and families frequently underestimate how quickly courts must step in after death to manage property, businesses, and ongoing financial obligations.

“Estate planning isn’t about predicting tragedy,” Alper emphasizes. “It’s about removing uncertainty if the unthinkable happens.” Under California and U.S. law, trusts generally become irrevocable after death and must be followed as written, state law controls inheritance when no estate plan exists, slayer statutes are designed to prevent profit from intentional wrongdoing, and probate and criminal proceedings remain legally distinct—even when they unfold side by side.