Keyes v. Keyes

NEELY, Chief Justice:

In this family dispute, the defendants appeal judgment against them in the Circuit Court of Wayne County for $25,000 in compensatory damages and $5000 in punitive damages.

George W. Keyes died intestate on 21 January 1987. He had been divorced from the mother of his only child, George W. Keyes, Jr. The decedent’s house in Prich-ard, West Virginia, was owned by the decedent’s mother, Maude Keyes, who lived nearby. The other parties in the case are the decedent’s brother, Robert Keyes, and Robert’s wife, Annalaura Keyes.

Shortly after his father’s death, George Jr. was named…