Actress’s Family Fights Over Legal Fees

Ariel Winter is the teen actress who plays teen Alex Dunphy on Modern Family.  At one point, she contended that her mother, Chrisoula Workman, physically and mentally abused her.  Her mother denied the allegations and filed multiple declarations from family friends who said they never saw the abuse.  

In response to Ariel’s allegations of abuse, Ariel’s older sister, Shanelle Gray, was awarded temporary guardianship of the actress and she is requesting from Workman $160,000 in attorney’s fees.  Workman submits that Gray’s attorneys should not receive any more than $50,000 from Ariel’s estate because her daughter’s ability to pay for high school and college could be jeopardized if they deplete the estate any further.  Gray maintains that she only wants the costs that she incurred for Ariel’s benefit, which totals the $160,000 that she requested.

A status hearing is scheduled for March 29.  At that hearing, Workman states that she will make a bid to remove Gray as her daughter’s guardian.  She says that she plans to present evidence showing that the guardianship proceeding never should have happened. This argument will probably require a hearing beyond the status one set for March 29. 

See ‘Modern Family’ Star’s Mother Challenges Estate Over Legal Fees, Estate of Denial, Mar. 8, 2013. 

Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse (Professional Legal Marketing (PLM, Inc.)) for bringing this article to my attention.