Michael Oher received $138K in 'The Blind Side' proceeds from Tuohy family, documents show

by Jason Munz

Michael Oher with the Titans

The dispute between Michael Oher and the Tuohy family − whose story was the subject of the Oscar-winning film "The Blind Side" − took another turn Wednesday.

The Tuohys' lawyers filed a court-ordered financial accounting that reveals Oher received $138,311.01 from the family since 2007. That figure represents approximately one-third of the net profit the Tuohys received off the success of the movie.

The sworn document filed in Shelby County Probate Court lists 10 separate payments the Tuohys made to Oher, beginning with a $22,500 installment on June 8, 2007. The filing shows Oher received his last check from the family in April 2023.

Oher, the former Briarcrest Christian and Ole Miss star and NFL offensive lineman, filed a petition in August to end the Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy's conservatorship. Included in that filing, Oher alleged the family made millions off the movie while he didn't receive anything. The Tuohys, through their attorneys, Randy Fishman and Steven Farese Sr., pushed back against that claim.

Tax forms included in the court document show the Tuohy family made more than $432,000 in proceeds related to "The Blind Side" between 2007 and 2021.

“The Tuohys did not control any of Mr. Oher’s finances,” Farese said in August. “Mr. Oher picked his own agent. Mr. Oher signed his own contract, negotiated it through his agents. They don’t need his money. They’ve never needed his money.”

Oher has until Nov. 28 to make any objections to the document.

The central theme of Oher’s petition is the conservatorship and the fact that the Tuohys never adopted him, as he and many others were led to believe.

“Where other parents of Michael’s classmates saw Michael simply as a nice kid in need, Conservators Sean Tuohy and Leigh Anne Tuohy saw something else: a gullible young man whose athletic talent could be exploited for their own benefit,” the petition said.

Shelby County Probate Court Judge Kathleen Gomes officially ended the conservatorship agreement between Oher and the Tuohys.

Full Article & Source:
Michael Oher received $138K in 'The Blind Side' proceeds from Tuohy family, documents show

See Also:
Judge ends conservatorship between Michael Oher and Tuohy family in 'Blind Side' fallout

Devastated Tuohys ready to end conservatorship for Michael Oher, lawyers say

"The Blind Side" lawsuit: Former NFL star Michael Oher sues

What is a conservatorship? The legal arrangement at the center of Michael Oher's case.

Michael Oher’s shocking conservatorship exposes court failures

Conservatorship Gone Wrong: Why Does it Seem to Happen So Often and How Can I Prevent It?

Oher’s ‘Blind Side’ Guardianship Case File Ignored for 19 Years

 

Judge ends conservatorship between Michael Oher and Tuohy family in 'Blind Side' fallout

Associated Press

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) – A Tennessee judge said Friday she is ending a conservatorship agreement between former NFL player Michael Oher and a Memphis couple who took him in when he was in high school. 

Shelby County Probate Court Judge Kathleen Gomes said she is terminating the agreement reached in 2004 that allowed Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy to control Oher’s finances. Oher signed the agreement when he was 18 and living with the couple as he was being recruited by colleges as a star high school football player.

Gomes said she was not dismissing the case. Oher has asked that the Tuohys provide a financial accounting of money that may have come to them as part of the agreement, claiming that they used his name, image and likeness to enrich themselves and lied to him that the agreement meant the Tuohys were adopting him. 

In Tennessee, a conservatorship removes power from a person to make decisions for themselves, and it is often used in the case of a medical condition or disability.

But Oher’s conservatorship was approved “despite the fact that he was over 18 years old and had no diagnosed physical or psychological disabilities,” his petition said.

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.

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

Offensive tackle Michael Oher poses with members of the Tuohy family after being selected by the Baltimore Ravens during the 2009 NFL Draft at Radio City Music Hall in New York on April 25, 2009.  Howard Smith, USA TODAY Sports

Oher and Tuohys listened in by video conference call but did not speak. Lawyers for both parties had agreed that the agreement should end, but the case will continue to address Oher’s claims. Gomes said it should have ended long ago.

In August, Oher, 37, filed a petition in probate court accusing the Tuohys of lying to him by having him sign papers making them his conservators rather than his adoptive parents nearly two decades ago. Oher wanted the conservatorship to be terminated, a full accounting of the money earned off his name and story and to be paid what he is due, with interest.

He accused the couple of falsely representing themselves as his adoptive parents, saying he discovered in February the conservatorship agreed to in 2004 was not the arrangement he thought it was – and that it provided him no familial relationship to them. 

Oher claims the Tuohys have kept him in the dark about financial dealings related to his name, image and likeness during the 19-year life of the agreement. 

The Tuohys have called the claims they enriched themselves at his expense outlandish, hurtful and absurd and part of a “shakedown” by Oher. 

In a court filing, the affluent couple said they loved Oher like a son and provided him with food, shelter, clothing and cars while he lived with them, but denied saying they intended to legally adopt him.

The Tuohys’ filing said Oher referred to them as “mom and dad,” and they occasionally referred to Oher as a son. They acknowledged that websites show them referring to Oher as an adopted son, but the term was only used “in the colloquial sense and they have never intended that reference to be viewed with legal implication.”

The Tuohys said the conservatorship was the tool chosen to comply with NCAA rules that would have kept Oher from attending the University of Mississippi, where Sean Tuohy had been a standout basketball player.

“When it became clear that the Petitioner could not consider going to the University of Mississippi (“Ole Miss”) as a result of living with the Respondents, the NCAA made it clear that he could attend Ole Miss if he was part of the Tuohy family in some fashion,” the Tuohys’ Sept. 14 court filing said.

The Tuohys also said Oher lied about finding out that he was not adopted in February. They said Oher’s 2011 book “I Beat the Odds” indicates that he was fully aware that the Tuohys were appointed as conservators. 

Agents negotiated a small advance for the Tuohys from the production company for “The Blind Side,” based on a book written by Sean Tuohy’s friend, Michael Lewis, the couple’s lawyers have said. That included “a tiny percentage of net profits” divided equally among a group that included Oher, they said.

The attorneys said they estimated each of the Tuohys and Oher received $100,000 apiece, and the couple paid taxes on Oher’s portion for him. 

The Tuohys’ filing said they never signed any pro football contracts for Oher, and he was happy with their financial arrangements from “The Blind Side.”

Oher was the 23rd overall pick in the 2009 draft out of Mississippi, and he spent his first five seasons with the Baltimore Ravens, where he won a Super Bowl. He played 110 games over eight NFL seasons, including 2014 when he started 11 games for the Tennessee Titans. Oher finished his career with the Carolina Panthers.

Full Article & Source:
Judge ends conservatorship between Michael Oher and Tuohy family in 'Blind Side' fallout

See Also:
Devastated Tuohys ready to end conservatorship for Michael Oher, lawyers say

"The Blind Side" lawsuit: Former NFL star Michael Oher sues

What is a conservatorship? The legal arrangement at the center of Michael Oher's case.

Michael Oher’s shocking conservatorship exposes court failures

Conservatorship Gone Wrong: Why Does it Seem to Happen So Often and How Can I Prevent It?

'Blind Side' Tuohy family say there was no 'intent to adopt’ Michael Oher, deny profiting off his name

By Marlene Lenthang and Diana Dasrath

Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy hit back at former NFL star Michael Oher in a new court filing Thursday, saying they never intended to adopt him and denied enriching themselves off his name. 

The Tuohys took in Oher, now 39, when he was in high school. He went on to stardom playing for Ole Miss and then the NFL, a story documented in the Oscar-winning movie “The Blind Side.”

The rosy image of a happy, adoptive Tennessee family depicted in the film was shattered when Oher alleged in an Aug. 14 court filing that he didn’t know he had never actually been adopted. Instead, he claimed he had been placed in a conservatorship and the Tuohys had profited from his name and cut him out of “The Blind Side" profits.

In the August filing, Oher requested a Shelby County probate court judge end the conservatorship that started in 2004 when he was 18.

In a response filing Thursday, the Tuohys, both 63, said that while they thought of Oher as a son, they “admit that they never intended to, and in fact never did, take any action to assume legal custody through the Juvenile Court of Shelby County."

The Tuohys maintained they are “ready, willing, and able to terminate the conservatorship by consent at any time,” the filing said.

They “vehemently” denied Oher’s claim that they saw him as a “gullible young man whose athletic talent could be exploited for their own benefit.”

Oher claimed in his filing that he only learned in February that he had been placed in a conservatorship and hadn't actually been adopted — which the Tuohys called “demonstratively false.”

They cited his 2011 memoir “I Beat The Odds,” where Oher indicates he was aware the Tuohys were appointed as conservators. 

The Tuohys refuted his claim that they told him they intended to legally adopt him. But they said they considered Oher part of their family, and over time he referred to them as “mom” and “dad,” and they referred to him as “son.” 

“Clearly, the Respondents (The Tuohys) loved the Petitioner and as a result provided him with shelter, food, and clothing and in fact bought him more than one vehicle for his personal use,” the filing said. “In fact, they have always felt that the Petitioner was like a son and have used that on occasion but not in a legal sense.”

The Tuohys said they entered a conservatorship to allow Oher to play college football at the University of Mississippi, the Tuohys’ alma mater and where they were boosters. 

“When it became clear that the Petitioner could not consider going to the University of Mississippi (“Ole Miss”) as a result of living with the Respondents, the NCAA made it clear that the only way he could attend the Ole Miss if he was part of the Tuohy family in some fashion. Conservatorship was the tool chosen to accomplish this goal,” the filing said.

Oher enrolled at the University of Mississippi in Aug. 2005 on a football scholarship at the age of 19. 

The Tuohys denied having "ultimate control of his contracts" and said they never signed any contract for him when it came to his career. The only documents they "may or may not have been required to sign" were Ole Miss scholarship papers, the filing claimed.

Oher had claimed that the Tuohys raked in massive profits from "The Blind Side" film, but they say the profits were split equally.

Oher claimed in his petition that the Tuohys had contract negotiations with 20th Century Fox (now 20th Century Studios) regarding the creation of The Blind Side movie, based on the book “The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game” by Michael Lewis. The Tuohys denied that claim, saying they “signed but never negotiated any contact” with the movie studio. 

Oher claimed that the Tuohys negotiated for themselves and their natural born children a contract price of $225,000 plus 2.5% of all future “defined net proceeds.” The Tuohys denied this, saying they received a portion of the money paid to Michael Lewis, "which was something less than $225,000."

Michael Lewis, the author of “The Blind Side” book, told The Washington Post last month that no one made a windfall from the film. “Everybody should be mad at the Hollywood studio system,“ Lewis said. 

The Tuohys said that Oher's share of the profits was paid to them. They then "paid the taxes due on these funds for some period of time but still cut a check for a full share (20%) to Petitioner."

Oher claimed that due to the success of the movie, a donation was made to Leigh Ann Tuohy’s foundation for $200,000 in 2010 in Sean Tuohy’s name. Oher claimed that the Tuohys and movie studio did not ensure his benefit from the movie’s success. 

The Tuohys admitted that they received a $200,000 donation to their foundation, but said that Oher had the opportunity to receive that exact same sum to be placed in a foundation or charity of his choice. But he "failed to take the necessary action to initiate the foundation despite the recommendations of the Respondents" and an attorney, the Tuohys said.

The filing ended with the Tuohys requesting the court deny all the relief Oher seeks in his petition. 

A spokesperson for the Tuohys had no additional comment Thursday.

Don Barrett, attorney for Michael Oher, said Thursday: “The Tuohys have filed a response within the deadline required by Mike’s petition. We look forward to Mike finally getting his day in court, where we are confident that the truth will prevail.

Full Article & Source:
'Blind Side' Tuohy family say there was no 'intent to adopt’ Michael Oher, deny profiting off his name

See Also:
Michael Oher

Oher’s ‘Blind Side’ Guardianship Case File Ignored for 19 Years

by  Ronnie Greene

• Judge in the case told Bloomberg Law no filings came before his desk
• Michael Oher case shows how conservatorships receive scant scrutiny

Amid the eyebrow-raising contentions detailed in court this week by former NFL star Michael Oher — that his supposed adoptive parents never actually adopted him, and that an Oscar-winning movie about their relationship was built on a lie — another truth also was revealed.

In the US, adult conservatorships often fail to protect those under the court’s watch. In Oher’s case, records show, the system wasn’t watching at all for nearly two decades.

The judge who approved Oher’s conservatorship told Bloomberg Law no case papers ever crossed his desk after the initial approval. “To my recollection nothing was ever forwarded to me,” said former Probate Judge Robert Benham, who retired in 2013.

Instead of being adopted, as he thought, Oher had gone into a conservatorship in 2004 with the Tennessee family that took him in. Yet for 19 years, his conservators never filed annual accountings or other court papers, Oher’s filing contends and court records show.

Indeed, the court file in the Oher case is empty between December 2004, when the conservatorship was approved, and this week, when the new petition was filed. A court official said the Oher digitized file contains all of the case’s pleadings.

Did he ever ask questions about the case?

“No, and I would have had no reason to unless they would have filed something in court for an additional hearing,” Benham said.

Uplifting Journey

Oher, one of 12 children, grew up in the Hurt Village Housing Projects in Memphis, Tennessee, and became a ward of the state at age 10. By his junior year in high school, big-time college football programs were recruiting him, even as Oher was “nearly penniless” and took an hour on buses to get to a Christian school.

During 10th and 11th grades, he began staying with family friends. Soon, he also started staying with a prominent Memphis family headed by Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy. In 2004, after he turned 18, the Tuohys invited Oher to live with them, his court filing said. Oher said the Tuohys told him they were adopting him, and he signed papers that December he thought had made the adoption official.

“The Tuohys presented him with what he understood to be legal papers that were a necessary step in the adoption process,” his court filing said. “Michael trusted the Tuohys and signed where they told him to sign.”

He went off to star as an offensive lineman for the Ole Miss Rebels, the Tuohys alma mater. In 2009, Oher became a first-round NFL draft pick. His journey, and the family’s support, inspired the movie “The Blind Side,” released later that year and featuring an Oscar-winning performance by Sandra Bullock as Leigh Anne Tuohy.

A Story Twist

This week, Oher’s court filing in Tennessee shattered that narrative, as first reported by ESPN.

Oher said the Tuohys never formally adopted him. Instead, when he signed those papers in 2004, he was actually agreeing to put himself under the conservatorship of the Tuohys. That distinction, his court petition contends, enriched the Tuohys at his expense.

The family, he contends, profited handsomely from the movie. The “Conservators and their children collectively received millions of dollars and Michael received nothing for his rights to a $330,000,000 (or more) story that would not have existed without him.”

Randall J. Fishman, an attorney who represented the Tuohys when they filed for the conservatorship, said he couldn’t answer questions. “I won’t have any comment about any of that until I talk to them and we’ll file an answer,” he told Bloomberg Law.

Bloomberg Law sent questions to the Tuohys about the conservatorship and the court petition, but they did not respond by Tuesday afternoon. To local Tennessee media, the Tuohys said they were “devastated” by the allegations and that they had tried to help Oher. Sean Tuohy said lawyers told the family at the time they had to use a conservatorship, not an adoption, because Oher was 18.

Anne Johnson, an attorney for Oher, said she could not comment about the case.

Nineteen years after it began, Oher is formally seeking to end his conservatorship and to require the Tuohys to account for their actions. He is asking a probate judge in Shelby County, Tennessee, to sanction the Tuohys “for their misconduct” and to require they pay him compensatory and punitive damages.

Leigh Anne Tuohy celebrates at the Baltimore Ravens’ 2013 Super Bowl victory. The Tuohy family told then-Ravens player Michael Oher that the family had adopted him at 18 when in fact he was placed under a guardianship, according to a new lawsuit by Oher.

Photographer: Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

No Oversight

Across the US, adult guardianships and conservatorships often feature scant judicial scrutiny. A Bloomberg Law investigation published this year, In the Name of Protection, revealed how lax oversight leaves those under guardianship vulnerable to abuse.

In their petition to end Oher’s case his lawyers, Johnson and J. Gerard Stranch IV, zero in on this lack of oversight.

The Tuohys, they said, never filed yearly accountings of the conservatorship, as required. Nor did they file required fiduciary or other statements “to inform the Court as to whether the conservatorship should continue.”

Retired probate judge Benham said the clerk’s office, not the judge, would be responsible for flagging any late or unfiled reports.

“The clerk’s office is a separate elected entity, and they are charged with the duty of notifying people who don’t file accountings,” he said, noting that the system handles a large caseload. “You’re talking about thousands of cases.”

Benham said he always knew the case was a conservatorship, not an adoption, and said he hoped the structure he approved would have benefited Oher over the ensuing years.

“And hopefully somebody was helping him with his investments because so many of them end up broke,” he said, referring to “professional athletes.”

Benham admitted he was “surprised” when he saw the news of Oher’s case filing.

“My first reaction was that I’d like to hear both sides of the story,” the retired judge said.

Full Article & Source:
Oher’s ‘Blind Side’ Guardianship Case File Ignored for 19 Years

See Also:
Michael Oher

Michael Oher’s shocking conservatorship exposes court failures

by Nina A. Kohn, opinion contributor

Baltimore Ravens offensive tackle Michael Oher sits on the bench during the first half of an NFL football game against the Buffalo Bills in Baltimore, Sunday, Oct. 24, 2010. Michael Oher, the former NFL tackle known for the movie “The Blind Side,” filed a petition Monday in a Tennessee probate court accusing Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy of lying to him by having him sign papers making them his conservators rather than his adoptive parents nearly two decades ago.(AP Photo/Nick Wass, File)

In recent years, the national media have been awash in stories of unscrupulous guardians and conservators. Most prominently, headlines screamed about Britney Spears’ father — enemy number one of the #FreeBritney movement — who was accused of profiteering off his daughter.

Last week, NFL player Michael Oher became the focus of the nation’s newest high-profile conservatorship case. Oher, the subject of the blockbuster movie “The Blind Side,” filed a court petition alleging that he had been duped into “agreeing” to a conservatorship, and asking for it to be terminated and his conservators sanctioned.

Unlike Spears, he did not allege that his conservators absconded with his earnings or prevented him from making personal decisions. And within days of the lawsuit being filed, the conservators announced they were “glad” to terminate the arrangement (although that actually can be done only by the court that appointed them to make decisions for Oher).

Oher’s story is unfortunate, but it could have a silver lining. With past high-profile stories, the focus on “bad” people (Spears’ father, a Nevada guardian turned abuser, a scam artist obtaining guardianship over elderly marks) masked a much bigger problem: probate courts run amok. 

Oher’s case, in contrast, lays the core problem bare: courts unnecessarily strip people of their rights and then fail to monitor the risky arrangements they create.

Oher was put under conservatorship in Tennessee. Tennessee law prohibits a judge from imposing a conservatorship unless the judge finds clear and convincing evidence that the person is disabled and needs that assistance. Yet a Tennessee judge imposed a conservatorship on Oher despite explicitly finding that he did not have any disability. Likewise, the judge never found that conservatorship was needed, and there is no evidence the judge considered whether Oher’s alleged “needs” could be met in a less restrictive way.

The sheer wrongness of the court’s order is shocking. But it is an open secret that courts appoint conservators (called guardians in some states) without fully considering the alternatives, or evaluating the person’s needs and abilities. Likewise, courts routinely grant conservators broad powers when more limited ones would be sufficient to meet the needs of the situation.

The Oher case also reveals another core problem: inadequate representation for those alleged to need a conservator. Although conservatorship can strip people of the right to make even the most basic, intimate decisions about their own lives, many states — including Tennessee — do not ensure that they have an attorney to represent their wishes.

Worse yet, Oher alleges that a single attorney purported to represent both him and those petitioning for conservatorship over him. That’s akin to an attorney representing the plaintiff and defendant in the same lawsuit.

In addition, the Oher saga reflects courts’ failure to supervise their appointees. Oher alleged that in the 19 years during which he had been under conservatorship, his conservators did not file a single accounting of his funds even though Tennessee law requires this annually. That a court would allow no accounting to be filed for 19 years, with potentially millions of dollars at stake, is appalling if true. Moreover, as Oher’s apparent continued confusion about his conservatorship suggests, courts often fail to adequately explain to people subject to conservatorship what that arrangement means and what their rights are under it.

In short, the Oher case shows that we must fix court systems, not merely punish bad actors. 

Fixing court systems will require ensuring that all judges who appoint conservators have the training needed to understand when an appointment is legally appropriate, and how to determine if that standard is met in a particular case. It will also require ensuring that courts have the systems they need to track cases and monitor those they appoint. 

Congress could help. Conservatorship is governed by state law, but Congress could jumpstart court improvement by appropriating funds for state court systems to adopt needed reforms.  

For example, they could make funding for court improvement available to states that adopt the Uniform Act designed to prevent these types of court failures. Likewise, Congress could — much as state court leaders have urged — appropriate funds specifically for judicial training or case management. And recognizing that the federal Constitution is violated when states strip people of constitutional rights without due process, Congress could create new avenues of redress for people whose rights are unlawfully removed.

Voters can help too. Many of the judges who appoint conservators are elected. Voters and the media should ask judicial candidates running for probate court positions key questions.

How much time will they spend considering a petition for conservatorship? Do they believe the court should obtain an independent evaluation of a person’s needs and abilities before imposing a conservatorship? Will they remove people’s rights without hearing from them first? Many do. 

That could change if voters become savvy to the problems with conservatorship and select judges who will only impose it when there are no other feasible options for meeting individuals’ needs. 

“The Blind Side” inspired many with its powerful story of hope and redemption. Oher’s conservatorship saga could have greater power. By exposing profound court failures, it could inspire the changes to the court system that are needed to ensure that Americans won’t have to worry that, like Oher, they may be swept up in an unnecessary conservatorship.

Full Article & Source:
Michael Oher’s shocking conservatorship exposes court failures

See Also:
"The Blind Side" lawsuit: Former NFL star Michael Oher sues

 Conservatorship Gone Wrong: Why Does it Seem to Happen So Often and How Can I Prevent It?

 What is a conservatorship? The legal arrangement at the center of Michael Oher's case.

 Devastated Tuohys ready to end conservatorship for Michael Oher, lawyers say

Devastated Tuohys ready to end conservatorship for Michael Oher, lawyers say

by ADRIAN SAINZ and TERESA M. WALKER

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A prominent Memphis couple with a longstanding relationship to former NFL player Michael Oher want to end a conservatorship that he’s challenging in court, their lawyers said.

Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy intend to enter into a consent order to end the conservatorship, lawyer Randall Fishman told reporters on Wednesday.

Oher filed a petition Monday in a Tennessee probate court accusing the Tuohys of lying to him by having him sign papers making them his conservators rather than his adoptive parents nearly two decades ago.

Oher, now 37, wants a full accounting of assets considering his life story produced millions of dollars, though he says he received nothing from the Oscar-nominated movie “The Blind Side.” He accuses the Tuohys of falsely representing themselves as his adoptive parents, saying that he discovered in February 2023 that the conservatorship was not the arrangement he thought it was — and that it provided him no familial relationship to the Tuohys.

But the Tuohys’ attorneys said Oher knew very well that he had not been adopted. Fishman said Oher mentioned the Tuohys being conservators for him three times in “I Beat The Odds: From Homeless, To The Blind Side,” Oher’s first book in 2011.

The couple’s attorneys also said that the Tuohys and Oher have been estranged for about a decade. Steve Farese said Oher has become “more and more vocal and more and more threatening” over the past decade or so, and this is “devastating for the family.”

The Tuohys have called the allegations a ridiculous shakedown attempt, and “a court of law is no place to play,” Fishman said. In a statement released by their lawyers Tuesday, the Tuohys said Oher had threatened before the court filing to plant a negative news story about them unless they paid him $15 million.

Oher’s lawyers did not immediately return messages seeking comment.

The conservatorship paperwork was filed months after Oher turned 18 in May 2004. Oher accuses the Tuohys of never taking legal action to assume custody from the Tennessee Department of Human Services before he turned 18, though he was told to call them “Mom” and “Dad.”

Oher alleges the Tuohys had him sign paperwork almost immediately after he moved in as part of the adoption process. Oher says he was “falsely advised” that it would be called a conservatorship because he was already 18, but that adoption was the intent.

The couple didn’t simply adopt Oher, Fishman said, because the conservatorship was the fastest way to satisfy the NCAA’s concerns that the Tuohys weren’t simply steering a talented athlete to Mississippi, their alma mater where Oher later attended.

Oher, who has never been a fan of the movie about his life, asks that the Tuohys be sanctioned and required by the probate court to pay damages. He asks to be paid what he is due, along with interest.

Agents negotiated a small advance for the Tuohys from the production company for “The Blind Side,” based on a book written by Sean Tuohy’s friend Michael Lewis, the couple said. That included “a tiny percentage of net profits” divided equally among a group that included Oher, they said in their statement.

The attorneys said they estimated each of the Tuohys and Oher received $100,000 apiece, and the couple paid taxes on Oher’s portion for him. “Michael got every dime, every dime he had coming,” Fishman said.

“They don’t need his money,” Farese said. “They’ve never needed his money. Mr. Tuohy sold his company for $220 million.”

Martin Singer, an attorney for the Tuohys, said that profit participation checks and studio accounting statements support their assertions. The movie won Sandra Bullock an Oscar for her portrayal of Leigh Anne Tuohy.

When Oher refused to cash the checks, the statement said, the Tuohys deposited Oher’s share into a trust account.

The Tuohys said that they set up the conservatorship to help Oher with health insurance, a driver’s license and being admitted to college. In Tennessee, a conservatorship removes power from a person to make decisions for themselves, and it is often used in the case of a medical condition or disability.

But Oher’s conservatorship was approved “despite the fact that he was over 18 years old and had no diagnosed physical or psychological disabilities,” his petition said.

Oher was the 23rd overall pick in the 2009 draft out of Mississippi, and he spent his first five seasons with the Baltimore Ravens where he won a Super Bowl. He played 110 games over eight NFL seasons, including 2014 when he started 11 games for the Tennessee Titans. Oher finished his career with two years in Carolina.

He last played in 2016 and was released in 2017 by Carolina. He is on a book tour for “When Your Back’s Against the Wall: Fame, Football, and Lessons Learned Through a Lifetime of Adversity.”

Full Article & Source:
Devastated Tuohys ready to end conservatorship for Michael Oher, lawyers say

See Also:
"The Blind Side" lawsuit: Former NFL star Michael Oher sues

What is a conservatorship? The legal arrangement at the center of Michael Oher's case.

"The Blind Side" lawsuit: Former NFL star Michael Oher sues

 

There are allegations the award-winning movie "The Blind Side" may all have been based on a lie. Larry Ridley reports.

Source:
"The Blind Side" lawsuit: Former NFL star Michael Oher sues

What is a conservatorship? The legal arrangement at the center of Michael Oher's case.

By Khristopher J. Brooks

Ex-NFL player Michael Oher shocked "The Blind Side" fans this week after revealing in court papers that contrary to the 2009 film's depiction of his life, the Tuohy family of Tennessee didn't actually adopt him.

In a reversal of the film's heartwarming ending, Oher alleges that Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy misled him nearly 20 years ago into signing documents which gave them a conservatorship over him. The legal documents, which Oher claims he was falsely told was "for all intents and purposes, an adoption," provided the Tuohys with the ability to profit from his name and likeness. 

The conservatorship continues today but should be discontinued going forward, Oher claimed in his petition, arguing he's old enough to handle his own business affairs. 

In response to the petition, Sean Tuohy said this week that if Oher wants to end the conservatorship now, the family would "of course" be willing to end it. 

Here are more specifics about what a conservatorship is and how the legal action became the center of Michael Oher's case.

What is a conservatorship?

Under Tennessee law, a conservatorship is a legal proceeding where a court strips the decision-making abilities from someone who is a minor or has a disability or someone who cannot make decisions on their own. A conservatorship includes transferring that decision-making ability to someone else (a conservator) or a group of people (co-conservators). 

One of the most famous cases involving a conservatorship was that of singer Britney Spears, who lived under a court-appointed conservatorship from 2008 until 2021.

• Britney Spears' conservatorship, explained
• Amanda Bynes' conservatorship terminated after nearly 9 years

Because conservatorship laws vary between states, it's difficult to determine how many people live in conservatorships across the country, ACLU attorney Zoe Brennan-Krohn told CBS News in 2021 when speaking about Spears' case. She added that they are often granted when an individual encounters difficulties or age-related disabilities. 

Conservatorship vs. adoption

In a conservatorship, the conservator is legally allowed to make decisions on another person's behalf without technically making them a family member. The person with a disability or other challenge only needs to sign the proper legal documents to grant the conservatorship, as Oher did in August 2004. 

Under adoption laws, an adoptee legally becomes a permanent member of the applicant's family. 

Adoption laws vary by state, with a few states placing age limits on adoption. Tennessee, the home state of Oher and the Tuohys, is among the states that allow adults to adopt someone who is over 18, according to law firm Anderson Hunter.

Conservatorship meaning

Having a conservatorship also plays a role in the person's finances. A conservator or co-conservators typically have authority over the finances and personal affairs of the person they're overseeing.

Oher claims in his petition that the Tuohy family generated millions of dollars off the book "The Blind Side" by best-selling author Michael Lewis and its film adaptation starring Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw, both of which carried Oher's name and likeness. Oher claims that he himself has received nothing off of the book or Oscar-nominated movie. The Tuohys will continue to profit from his name if the conservatorship isn't ended, he argues.

Aside from Britney Spears, actor Amanda Bynes also recently successfully fought to end her conservatorship, giving her full control of her medical, financial and personal decisions.

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What is a conservatorship? The legal arrangement at the center of Michael Oher's case.