Where is Michael Oher? Judge terminates former NFL player's conservatorship with Tuohy family
MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE: The conservatorship of Michael Oher, 37, who is currently based in Memphis, Tennessee has finally been terminated.
On Friday, September 29, Shelby County Probate Court Judge Kathleen Gomes terminated the retired NFL star's conservatorship with Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy after he filed a petition in August, reported ESPN.
Why did Michael Oher request to end his conservatorship with the Tuohy family?
Oher, whose remarkable life inspired the 2009 film 'The Blind Side', has been under the conservatorship of the Tuohy family since he was 18 years old and granted them control over his finances.
When the agreement was signed in 2004, he was playing high school football and lived with the family.
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However, in his petition filed in August, the 37-year-old claimed he had been misled into signing the conservatorship agreement, believing it to be equivalent to adoption.
"Michael trusted the Tuohys and signed where they told him to sign," read the legal document obtained by People.
"What he signed, however, and unknown to Michael until after February 2023, were not adoption papers, or the equivalent of adoption papers."
Judge reportedly disturbed at Tuohy family's years-long conservatorship
According to ESPN, Judge Gomes reportedly expressed being disturbed that the conservatorship between the Tuohy family and Oher was granted.
"I cannot believe it got done," she said of the agreement and added that she had never encountered a conservatorship agreement with a non-disabled individual in her career.
What were the Tuohy family's legal powers over Michael Oher?
As per the 2004 legal filings, Leigh Anne and Sean, "have all powers of attorney to act on his behalf" and that the former Baltimore Ravens player "shall not be allowed to enter into any contracts or bind himself without the direct approval of his conservators."
In his petition, Oher also requested that the Tuohy couple who are both 63-year-old provide him a financial record of all funds received by them due to the agreement, which gave them the power to use his name and image.
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He also claimed in the petition that the family, including the couple's two children by birth, Sean Tuohy Jr and Collins Tuohy, also made money from the Oscar-nominated film 'The Blind Side', along with the couple themselves.
Michael Oher did not receive any royalty checks from 'The Blind Side' film
The former football tackle alleged that all four members of the Tuohy family received $225,000 payment for the film with an added 2.5% of the film's proceeds.
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However, Oher later discovered that he was the sole family member who did not receive any royalty checks from the movie.