It's a horrible thought to picture a family torn apart, but that's apparently what happened to Ryan Howard last season.

The details, first tweeted by Fox Philly's Howard Eskin and followed by a lengthy story from the Philadelphia Daily News, indicate that Howard's family members are suing the Phillies slugger after Howard removed them from his corporation. Howard had done so in response to their alleged misuse of millions of dollars of Howard's contract money, and filed a countersuit to their original action.

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The lawsuit was settled in October, with both sides reaching an agreement on an undisclosed settlement.

The Daily News story paints an ugly and unfortunate picture of a family in crisis, plagued by money squabbling, finger-pointing, and general mistrust. Howard had turned control of his baseball fortunes over to his father early in his career, but took it back over the finances of his RJH Enterprises in late 2012.

It was then that Howard found that the corporation had paid his family an amount of $2,795,337.38, funds of which Howard was apparently unaware and did not authorize. Coincidentally, Howard originally suspected his family might be misusing his fortunes after watching the documentary "Broke," an ESPN 30 for 30 film centering on "the financial plight of certain star athletes who had entrusted their business affairs to the family."

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The entire account of the legal saga that erupted within the Howard family is available at the Philadelphia Daily News' website.