According to the page, which is raising money for funeral costs and medical expenses, the father and son were "driving to a show choir event and were involved in a serious car accident".
"Please DONATE," Hyland begged her 1.55 million Twitter followers with a link to the fundraising page.
Hyland reportedly receives over $US100,000 (NZ$144,000) per episode for her starring role as Haley Dunphy on hit sitcom Modern Family, which has run for more than 200 episodes now.
It's estimated that her time on the show has seen the actor amass a $US9 million (NZ$12.9 million) fortune.
Given her comparatively immense wealth, many on social media took Hyland to task:
Her Modern Family co-stars Ariel Winter and Nolan Gould — both estimated to have amassed similar fortunes to Hyland — also shared the fundraising link to their social media accounts, asking their combined millions of fans to donate.
Donation records on the GoFundMe page show that the two highest donations so far have come from Winter (who gave $2500) and from Hyland herself (who donated $1000).
Hyland hit back as speculation grew about her involvement in the fundraising campaign, writing: "You don't know all the details. And how dare you attack when a beautiful life has been lost."
However, her defence was met with further criticism from some on social media:
