Ariel Winter Tweets: 'I Am Now Officially Emancipated!!!'

'Modern Family' star Ariel Winter, 17, took to Twitter this weekend to express her joy at winning a hard-fought legal battle to be emancipated from her mother, Chrisoula "Chrystal" Workman.

"I am now officially emancipated!!!" she tweeted. She thanked her sister, Shanelle Gray, her dad, and her other family and friends for their support during her ordeal.

"I want to thank @shanelle_gray and my father for their special support regarding this matter, I really couldn't have done it without them. Thank you to all of my family, friends, and fans who have supported me through all of my endeavors in life, and have encouraged me."

Ariel sued based on emotional and physical abuse, which her mother and her brother, actor Jimmy Workman, denied ever happened. But a judge disagreed, and the young actress is now legally separated from her mom. Her permanent legal guardian is Gray, who Ariel thinks of as both an older sister and a mom. She even wrote a tribute to her sister on Mother's Day, tweeting, "I love you to the moon."