After two years of litigation and an eight week trial, the King County Superior Court in Washington has validated Al Hendrix's last will and testament and confirmed Al's intent to leave his estate-including Experience Hendrix, the family company that controls Jimi Hendrix's music, name, and likeness-to numerous family members. The court has denied the will contest instituted by Leon Hendrix, to overturn the will.

James Allen ("Al") Hendrix, the father of famed musician Jimi Hendrix, died in April 2002. In the will that Al prepared with his lawyers four years before he died, Al left his estate to numerous family members, including his daughter, Janie Hendrix, and his nephew, Robert Hendrix. Al chose, however, to exclude Leon and his family from his will and estate.

Following Al's death, Leon almost immediately sued the estate to overturn the will.

Leon Hendrix has filed numerous challenges to Al's estate. As part of the legal process, he investigated nearly every aspect of Janie's life and the family business to uncover evidence to support his claims. At trial, Leon offered testimony from 34 witnesses and presented 368 exhibits to the court. The Court considered all this evidence before concluding that Leon's challenge should be rejected and the estate plan should be enforced.

Janie Hendrix is the executor of her father's estate and the president of Experience Hendrix. She was not involved in planning Al's estate.

Janie Hendrix is relieved that her father's wishes will be continue to be respected: "As executor of my father's estate, I have not tried to second-guess his wishes. I have only tried to see that those wishes are carried out. I feel great regret that my father thought he needed to take this step with Leon to exclude him from the estate. I wish Leon and his family the very best."

Al Hendrix was extremely generous to Leon and his family throughout his lifetime . In addition, prior to his death, Al had established a separate trust fund for Leon's six children, who also sued to overturn the will. The children's claim was also rejected in the court's decision.

In addition to the will contest claims, the court also ruled on claims by a few family members holding (through trusts) a minority interest in Experience Hendrix. At the same time that Al Hendrix wrote his will, he also made substantial gifts of Experience Hendrix to each of his beneficiaries, in trust. Al appointed Janie and Robert as trustees of each of these gift trusts. A minority of the trust beneficiaries, who indirectly own about 16% of Experience Hendrix, argued that the company should be restructured and Janie and Robert replaced as trustees. The minority beneficiaries were also highly critical of Janie and Robert Hendrix's management of the company.

In response to the concerns voiced by these trust beneficiaries beginning in February 2004, Janie and Robert Hendrix restructured the family companies to allow the indirect owners to have a voice in the company. They appointed Washington Trust Bank as the trustee's agent and voted to allow Washington Trust Bank to have an official position in the management of Experience Hendrix.

The court's decision to remove Janie and Robert as trustees, while retaining them in management of the company, only further reinforces the steps that the company has already implemented. Said Janie, "It is unfortunate that my Dad's decision to make Robert and I trustees can no longer be honored. At the same time, I am sympathetic to the concerns of the family and the court that the company be managed in the best way possible. We look forward to the continuing involvement of Washington Trust Bank in the management of Jimi's music, image, and likeness."

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