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Michael Oher has won a major legal battle relating to his conservatorship under his former guardians, Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy. His former guardians, who along with Oher inspired the book and Oscar-winning movie The Blind Side, have had a conservatorship over the 37-year-old retired NFL offensive lineman’s finances since Oher was 18, but now that is over.
On Friday, Shelby County Probate Court Judge Kathleen Gomes terminated the agreement. According to ESPN, “Gomes said she was disturbed that such an agreement was ever reached. She said she had never seen in her 43-year career a conservatorship agreement reached with someone who was not disabled and that the conservatorship should have ended long ago.”
While Michael Oher will no longer be under a conservatorship, the judge did not dismiss the case fully. It will continue to look into other claims Oher has made related to the Tuohy’s management of his finances.
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A conservatorship is a legal agreement for one party to gain control over the decision-making of another party. These are almost exclusively granted in the case of a medical or disability situation.
In the case of Michael Oher vs Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, it started when the young football player came to live with them in high school. When Oher was 18, he signed an agreement to enter a conservatorship with the Tuohys as colleges were recruiting him to play football. He now says he believed he was entering into an adoption agreement, not a conservatorship, at the time. The Tuohys never legally adopted Oher.
In August, the former NFL lineman filed this lawsuit, accusing Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy of enriching themselves off his name and story while he didn’t see any money from the success of The Blind Side. That is the aspect of this case that will continue.
