What was the Nick Reiner conservatorship, and how does an LPS conservatorship work?

A short note before you start

This guide is general information for the United States, not legal, tax, financial or medical advice. Nick Reiner is charged with a crime and is presumed innocent unless a court decides otherwise; the criminal case is separate from the conservatorship history described here. Conservatorship and guardianship rules are set by each state, so confirm specifics with your state court's self-help site or an attorney.

What was the Nick Reiner conservatorship?

Nick Reiner is the son of the late film director Rob Reiner and photographer Michele Singer Reiner. In 2020, a Los Angeles County court placed him under a conservatorship after finding him "gravely disabled" as a result of mental illness, the legal standard California uses for this kind of case. The conservatorship fell under the state's Lanterman-Petris-Short Act, commonly shortened to an "LPS conservatorship," and gave a court-appointed conservator, licensed fiduciary Steven Baer, authority to make medical and medication decisions for Nick even against his own wishes².

Nick had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and, at another point, schizoaffective disorder². The conservatorship ran its full one-year term and was not renewed after it expired in 2021, so for roughly four and a half years before December 2025 he was not under any court-ordered conservatorship. Reporting also notes he had been on psychiatric medication that appeared to be working, and that adverse side effects led to a medication change about a month before his parents were killed².

What happened after the conservatorship ended

Rob Reiner, 78, and Michele Reiner, 70, were found dead at their Brentwood, Los Angeles home on December 14, 2025, having suffered multiple sharp force injuries; the county medical examiner ruled the deaths homicides. Nick Reiner was arrested that evening. The Los Angeles County District Attorney's office charged him with two counts of first-degree murder, with special-circumstance allegations of multiple murders and personal use of a deadly weapon, in case number 25CJCF08098¹.

Reiner pleaded not guilty; a grand jury indicted him in August 2026, and he pleaded not guilty to the indictment³. At a September 15, 2026 hearing, prosecutors announced they would not seek the death penalty and do not expect the case to go to trial before 2027⁴. The case remains pending.

What is an LPS conservatorship, and how is it different from a regular conservatorship?

Most conservatorships people hear about, including the kind covered in our guardian vs. conservatorship and meaning of conservatorship guides, are probate conservatorships: a family steps in because aging, dementia or a disability makes it hard to manage money or daily life, and anyone can ask the probate court to start the case.

An LPS conservatorship is narrower. It exists only in California, only for adults, and only when a psychiatric evaluation finds someone "gravely disabled," defined as unable to provide their own food, clothing or shelter because of a mental health disorder or, in some cases, chronic alcoholism⁵. Because it can authorize forced medication and involuntary placement, California courts treat it as a serious deprivation of liberty. The state's Supreme Court ruled in Conservatorship of Roulet that a proposed conservatee has the same core protections used in a criminal trial: a jury, and a requirement that the county prove grave disability beyond a reasonable doubt, unanimously⁸.

How does someone get placed under an LPS conservatorship?

A family member cannot simply go to court and file for an LPS conservatorship the way they might for a probate conservatorship. The case has to start inside the mental health treatment system.

1. A psychiatric hold begins the process. Someone is typically held involuntarily for evaluation because a treating professional believes they are gravely disabled⁶.
2. The treating facility refers the case to the county Public Guardian. Only a designated mental health facility, agency or the court itself can make this referral⁷.
3. The Public Guardian investigates. The office reviews the person's condition and history, and whether less restrictive options could work instead.
4. The Public Guardian petitions the court. Only the Public Guardian, not a relative, can file the petition asking the court to appoint a conservator⁷.
5. A temporary conservatorship can begin immediately, lasting up to 30 days while the case is pending⁶.
6. The person has the right to fight the case. They can be represented by an attorney and demand a jury trial, where grave disability must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt⁸.
7. If granted, the conservatorship lasts one year and does not roll over automatically. The conservator, often the Public Guardian or a licensed fiduciary as with Nick Reiner, must file a new petition with updated doctors' declarations before the year is up to continue it⁶.
8. If no one renews it, it ends on its own, as happened in Nick Reiner's case: the conservatorship expired in 2021 and was not renewed².

What can an LPS conservator actually decide?

An LPS conservator of the person can generally decide where the conservatee lives, including in a locked psychiatric facility, and can consent to psychiatric medication and treatment even over the conservatee's objection². A court can also appoint a conservator of the estate to manage money and property, if separately needed. The powers granted are specific to the case; a court need not grant every possible power just because it grants some.

How does this vary by state?

California's LPS Act, and the term "LPS conservatorship," is unique to California. Every other state handles severe, ongoing mental illness through short-term involuntary commitment law plus its general guardianship statute, and the standards and terms differ.

Do not assume a rule, deadline or power described for California's LPS system applies anywhere else. Search "[your state] involuntary treatment law" and "[your state] courts self-help guardianship" for your state's own forms, or see our conservatorship vs. guardian guide for the general vocabulary.

What should go in a family guide?

Most families dealing with a loved one's serious mental illness never go through an LPS-style conservatorship. But when a family has been through one, or is weighing whether to, a few things matter for whoever helps next, whether a future treatment team, a new caregiver or an attorney.

• Whether the person has ever had a conservatorship, guardianship or involuntary hold, and roughly when
• The name and contact information of any current or former conservator, and which court handled the case
• The treating psychiatrist's name and contact information
• A current medication list, including recent changes and why they were made
• Any advance directive for mental health treatment, sometimes called a psychiatric advance directive, and where it is kept
• Existing durable power of attorney or health care power of attorney documents, if any
• Who in the family should be called first in a mental health crisis, and any de-escalation approaches that have worked before

Recording this in a family guide means that if a crisis happens again, the people responding are not trying to reconstruct years of medical and legal history from memory.

Common mistakes families make

• Assuming a family member can file for an LPS conservatorship directly. Only a designated facility can refer the case, and only the county Public Guardian can petition the court.
• Believing a conservatorship, once granted, lasts indefinitely. It expires after one year unless someone actively files to renew it.
• Confusing an LPS conservatorship with a probate conservatorship. The two involve different courts, standards of proof and powers.
• Treating a lapsed conservatorship as resolved. Ending because it was not renewed is not the same as a doctor finding the underlying condition is gone.
• Applying one state's terms to another state. "Conservatorship," "guardianship" and the underlying standards are not interchangeable across state lines.
• Not documenting the history. Without a written record, a new treatment team or attorney may have no way to know a conservatorship, hold or medication change ever happened.

When to get professional help

Talk to a mental health attorney, a patients' rights advocate, or the county Public Guardian's office if a family member's condition raises questions about conservatorship, involuntary treatment or capacity. California requires people held or conserved under the LPS Act be informed of their rights, including the right to an attorney⁸; ask the court or facility staff how to reach a patients' rights advocate in your county. For an emergency mental health crisis, contact 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, or local emergency services.