Here's the deal ... Sonya died at the end of 2022 and she won a Daytime Emmy last month for her work on "General Hospital," with her producing partner and friend Tyler Ford accepting the award on her behalf.

Now, Sonya's family members want the award in their possession ... and they're pissed it wasn't given to them in the first place.

Sonya's younger brother, Robbie Eddy, tells TMZ ... the Television Academy didn't tell her family she was going to be winning an Emmy beforehand, and Tyler's told them he's going to keep her trophy.

We're told Sonya's whole family is now working to get the Emmy ... sending a letter to the Television Academy.

While Sonya's kin waits to hear back from the Academy, we're told they feel this whole thing is a slap in the face -- they're still grieving, and this dispute is making that process harder. Plus, the Emmys happened shortly before the 1-year anniversary of her death.

Sonya's brother says the family has no plans to take any kind of legal action against Tyler or the Academy ... they don't want to tarnish her memory with a lawsuit, they're just hoping Tyler does the "right thing" and hands over her Emmy.

If the Eddys do get the trophy, we're told Sonya's 84-year-old mother will hold onto the award ... the family says her mom sponsored Sonya's Hollywood career.

Now, we've also heard Sonya was actually estranged from some family members when she died -- she wasn't getting along with her brother because they were fighting over who was going to provide and care for their mom, who has Alzheimer's and dementia.

Sonya's brother tells us they were working on repairing their relationship not long before she died.