(KTLA) — Nick Reiner, who is charged with the 2025 killing of his parents, director Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner, was placed in a court-ordered mental health conservatorship years prior.
In a new report from The New York Times, Nick was placed in a yearslong conservatorship in 2020. The outlet explained it’s reserved for “the sickest adults.” It allows a guardian to make medical and medication decisions for patients against their will, if necessary.
He was placed in what’s known as an Lanterman-Petris Short (LPS) Conservatorship.
“Legal Basis: According to the Welfare and Institutions Code, a conservator may be appointed for a person who is gravely disabled meaning that, as a result of a mental disorder, the person is unable to provide for food, clothing or shelter. Certain criminal defendants incompetent to stand trial may also meet the criteria,” the Los Angeles Department of Mental Health explained on its website. “Purpose: To provide for individualized treatment, supervision, and placement of the conservatee and to manage their financial resources.”
In Nick Reiner’s case, the New York Times said, the conservatorship involved him receiving involuntary psychiatric treatment. It stated that the 32-year-old was diagnosed with schizophrenia at different times.
Prior to the December killings, TMZ revealed Nick was diagnosed with schizophrenia and there was a change in the medications that he was taking, which had allegedly made him more “erratic and dangerous.”
Sources told the site that he had been under the care of a psychiatrist and had recently received care at a Los Angeles-based rehab facility specializing in substance abuse and mental health conditions. Nick has publicly struggled with addiction for years and was the subject of a 2015 memoir and documentary detailing his battle with substance abuse.
However, a month before the murders, his behavior had reportedly changed for the worse. Doctors were reportedly working to adjust his medications.
On the afternoon of Dec. 14, 2025, the “Princess Bride” director and his photographer wife were found stabbed to death in their Los Angeles home. Hours later, Nick was arrested.
Various reports state that father and son had a heated argument at Conan O’Brien’s holiday party the night before.
He is charged with two counts of first-degree murder. If convicted on all charges, he could face life in prison or the death penalty. Nick has yet to enter a plea.