A judge in Shelby County, Tennessee has ended the conservatorship agreement between Michael Oher and the Tuohy family. Judge Kathleen Gomes formally ended the conservatorship earlier this week in probate court. Furthermore, Gomes refused to dismiss the case that Oher had brought against the family. The Tuohys' "adoption" of Oher was turned into the Oscar-winning film, The Blind Side. "I cannot believe it got done," Gomes said of the conservatorship. Additionally, she added that she had never seen such an agreement in her 43-year legal career. Conservatorships are usually enacted in cases of disability or similar circumstances.
The Tuohys watched the hearing virtually but did not comment. The family has objected to Oher's claims that they took financial advantage of him. Oher has claimed that the Tuohys have hidden the full extent of the earnings they have reaped from the use of his name, image, and likeness. The Tuohys operate two separate non-profits that use Oher's name.
Read More: Michael Oher Claims “The Blind Side” Falsely Portrayed Him As Having Intellectual Disabilities
Oher Referenced Nature Of Conservatorship In Memoir
Oher discovered the truth of the conservatorship agreement earlier this year. However, the horrifying details have been out in the world for some time. In his 2011 memoir, I Beat The Odds: From Homelessness to The Blind Side, and Beyond, Oher described the nature of his relationship with the Tuohys.
"Sean and Leigh Anne would be named as my 'legal conservators. They explained to me that it means pretty much the exact same thing as 'adoptive parents,' but that the laws were just written in a way that took my age into account. Honestly, I didn't care what it was called. I was just happy that no one could argue that we weren't legally what we already knew was real: We were a family," the passage read. When Oher revisited the agreement in 2023, he realized that what the Tuohys had signed him into gave him no familial relationship to the family. This story remains a developing one and we will have any updates as they emerge.
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