Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy intend to end their conservatorship for Michael Oher, lawyers for the couple said.
Oher filed a petition with Shelby County (Tennessee) probate court Monday to end the conservatorship, which he claims the Tuohys deceived him into signing, saying they were legally adopting him.
Court records show Oher signed the conservatorship papers in August 2004, three months after his 18th birthday. Legal experts have said there is no basis for the conservatorship to exist.
Sean Tuohy and the couple’s attorneys have said this week that the conservatorship was a means of protection for Oher to attend Ole Miss, the couple’s alma mater and that this would make him part of the family.
Addressing Michael’s claim about the conservatorship, Sean said that the legal arrangement was to satisfy the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA), for which Michael played football while at the University of Mississippi.
“They said the only way Michael could go to Ole Miss was if he was part of the family,” Sean said. “I sat Michael down and told him, ‘If you’re planning to go to Ole Miss – or even considering Ole Miss – we think you have to be part of the family. This would do that, legally.’
“We contacted lawyers who told us that we couldn’t adopt over the age of 18; the only thing we could do was to have a conservatorship.”
All along, Oher said, he thought he was legally adopted. Oher is also seeking back pay for any money the Tuohys may have earned through the conservatorship, mainly the life rights agreement and contract for the 2009 blockbuster movie “The Blind Side,” which starred Sandra Bullock.
“Michael got every dime, every dime he had coming,” Tuohy’s lawyer Randall Fishman said.
Lawyer Steve Farese said the Tuohys’ wealth outside of Oher, who made an excess of $30 million during his eight-year NFL career, was more than enough.
“They don’t need his money,” Farese said. “They’ve never needed his money. Mr. Tuohy sold his company for $220 million.”
Hugh Freeze, who coached Oher at the high school and collegiate level as the head football coach of Briarcrest Christian School and as an assistant coach at the University of Mississippi, commented on the lawsuit.
“I love Michael Oher. And I love the Tuohys. I think it’s sad,” Freeze said, according to the Opelika-Auburn News. “Whatever happens will happen… I love both sides of it.”
Freeze said he didn’t know any details about the rift – “I certainly don’t claim to know all the ins and outs of adoption and conservatory” – but he did speak on what he saw while Oher attended Briarcrest.
“I know what I witnessed, and I witnessed a family that took in a young man,” Freeze added.
