Tennessee judge terminating conservatorship agreement between Michael Oher, Tuohy family

The conservatorship agreement between former NFL player Michael Oher and the Tuohy family is being ended by a Tennessee judge. 

The agreement, which was reached in 2004 when Oher was 18 and was being recruited by college football programs, allowed Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy to control Oher’s finances. Shelby County Probate Court Judge Kathleen Gomes said Friday she is terminating the agreement, according to The Associated Press. 

A conservatorship in Tennessee is often used when there is a medical condition or disability, per the AP. Gomes said she has never seen a conservatorship agreement reached with someone who is not disabled. 

“I cannot believe it got done,” she said.

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While Gomes is ending the conservatorship agreement, the judge is not dismissing the case. 

In August, Oher, the inspiration behind the 2009 Academy Award-winning film “The Blind Side,” alleged in a petition filed in a Tennessee court that he was never legally adopted by the family, but rather tricked into a conservatorship that solely benefited the Tuohy family.

“The lie of Michael’s adoption is one upon which Co-Conservators Leigh Anne Tuohy and Sean Tuohy have enriched themselves at the expense of their Ward, the undersigned Michael Oher,” the document read.

“Michael Oher discovered this lie to his chagrin and embarrassment in February of 2023, when he learned that the Conservatorship to which he consented on the basis that doing so would make him a member of the Tuohy family, in fact provided him no familial relationship with the Tuohys.”

The Tuohy family invited Oher to live with them in 2004. The filing alleges that soon after moving in, the family presented him with the conservatorship, which he understood as a form of legal adoption. 

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Oher’s petition sought to end the conservatorship and bar them from using his name and likeness. It also seeks that Oher receives a share of profits based on the earnings the family purportedly made off his name.

The petition also alleged that while the Tuohys benefited significantly from “The Blind Side,” Oher did not. 

In September, Tuohys’ lawyers denied in court documents that they used a legal agreement between them and Oher to get rich at his expense and lied about intending to adopt him.

The family said they loved Oher like a son and provided him with food, shelter, clothing and cars while he lived with them. They denied saying they intended to legally adopt him.

The Tuohys’ filing said Oher did refer to Sean and Leigh Anne as “mom” and “dad” while they referred to Oher as their son. They also acknowledged that other websites showed them referring to Oher as an adoptive son but said the term was used “in the colloquial sense and they have never intended that reference to be viewed with legal implication.”

The family said the conservatorship was the tool chosen to comply with NCAA rules that would have kept Oher from attending Ole Miss, the university where Sean Tuohy played basketball. The filing said the NCAA “made it clear that he could attend Ole Miss if he was part of the Tuohy family in some fashion.”

The Tuohys added that Oher lied about finding out that he was not adopted in February and pointed to the former NFL player’s 2011 book “I Beat the Odds,” which indicated he was aware the Tuohys were appointed as conservators rather than adoptive parents.

Oher was selected with the 23rd pick of the 2009 NFL Draft by the Baltimore Ravens, where he played his first five NFL seasons. Oher went on to play for two more teams in his eight-year career. 

Fox News’ Paulina Dedaj and Ryan Gaydos and The Associated Press contributed to this report.