Seventeen-year-old "Modern Family" actress Ariel Winter announced via Twitter that she is now an officially emancipated minor after fighting a draining legal battle for years against her estranged mother, Chrisoula Workman. 

Like Us on Facebook

"I am now officially emancipated!!!" the star happily announced. "I'm really lucky I have an amazing support system and lovely people in my life who have given me the support and guidance to have been given this wonderful opportunity." She went on further to thank everyone in her life, including her fans, for encouraging her and helping her through the trials she faced.

Winter's struggles began sometime around 2012 when she legally filed for emotional abuse. Her sister Shanelle Grey and brother Jimmy Workman soon corroborated the story, and their mother lost custody over the actress. While Jimmy initially gained custody over Winter, permanent guardianship was soon awarded to Shanelle a year later. Winter knew that the logical next step for her should be emancipation.

According to the emancipation terms of California State law, Winter is no longer under the custody or control of her parents and guardians, even though she has not reached 18. In turn, it becomes her duty to support herself despite her being underage, something that is not really a problem given her recent rise to fame.

Winter is known for her role as Alex Dunphy in "Modern Family," the second of the three daughters of Claire and Phil Dunphy and also evidently the most intelligent of the siblings. Moreover, she appeared in the 2005 film "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang," which starred "Sherlock Holmes'" Robert Downey Jr. Unbeknownst to many of her fans, she also did voices for various animated films like the 2006 hit "Ice Age: The Meltdown" and "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs."

Despite being a rising star though, she has proven time and again how much she is just like most teenagers. For one, she happily went to prom with her boyfriend, Laurent Claude Gaudette, last April.

Tagsariel winter, Modern Family, emancipated, alex dunphy