'Modern Family' Star Ariel Winter is Now Emancipated

LOS ANGELES - Seventeen-year-old "Modern Family" star Ariel Winter, who plays Alex Dunphy on the hit ABC sitcom, announced today that she is now an emancipated minor.

The announcement viat the teen star's Twitter account, ends her years-long custody drama. "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 tweeted.

The young star also thanked her older sister Shanelle Gray, who served as her guardian since 2012 after the California Department of Children and Family Services found evidence that the teen's mother Chrisoula Workman was emotionally abusing her.

Workman had fought the court's decision until last May, when she agreed to settle the case just before it would have gone to trial.