Conservatorship: Lessons Learnt From ‘The Blind Side’

In 2004, an affluent white couple, Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, “adopted” a young African American athlete, Michael Oher, who’d later become a national star thanks to his athletic prowess. His story was turned into a movie in 2009, “The Blind Side,” describing his adoptive family as the “saviors” who rescued a poor young boy and supported him in becoming a star athlete. 

According to Oher, while beautiful, the movie storyline does not depict reality, as he later learns that the Tuohys never adopted him as their son. Instead, they placed him under a conservatorship unbeknownst to him. 

“Oher thought he was signing adoption papers. Instead, it turned out that he signed away his right to make any critical life decisions, potentially costing him millions of dollars,” says Georgia family lawyer Shawna Woods of the Atlanta Divorce Law Group. 

It Was Always a Conservatorship 

According to papers filed in court by the Tuohy family, they denied ever telling others that they planned to adopt him legally, but maintained he was always a part of their family, though not legally. 

According to their lawyer, the conservatorship was the fastest option to enable others to attend the University of Mississippi to start playing football since the NCAA was adamant it was only possible if they had a legal relationship with Oher.

What is a Conservatorship?

This often brings us to wonder what Conservatorship is and how it differs from adoption. A conservatorship is a legal mechanism for helping people who can’t care for themselves due to a disability or a medical condition like dementia. It allows someone else to make decisions on their behalf in areas such as health care, living arrangements, or personal matters. Adoption, on the other hand, involves the creation of a legal child-parent relationship where the adoptive parent takes up all legal and physical roles of caring for the child. Adult adoption, while rare, is also legal, including in Tennessee, and was an option the Tuohys would have considered.

The court creates a conservatorship upon the request of a person’s close relative, but it must first seek to establish that the individual needs assistance in making important life decisions. When there was nothing to show that Oher could handle such decisions alone, the court somehow deemed it in his best interests to issue the order.

In Oher’s case, the Tuohys did not have control over everything; instead, they were appointed “conservators of the person,” which doesn’t include control over finances. However, they had authority over Oher’s signing of contracts and decisions involving his well-being. According to Oher, the Tuohy family received millions of dollars from the Blind Side deal in royalties, but the family, through their lawyer, denied ever exploiting him under the guise of conservatorship.

Oher’s Petition

Oher wanted the court to end the conservatorship and compel the Tuhoys to stop using his name and likeness for profit. Also, he asked the court to order an accounting of all funds generated through his name and likeness and have the family return all funds that could have been his. Such demands seemed justified from Oher’s perspective.

It is unclear what the Tuohy family’s intentions were when they took Oher into their wings and put him under conservatorship. However, it is a wake-up call for individuals looking to adopt to ensure they follow the correct procedure, or at least ensure the person they are entering into a legal relationship with understands the full extent of what they are signing up for. A lack of such clear terms and understanding on both sides will only result in future conflicts.

Even as the drama unfolded in court, Anne Tuohy, on her website, still referred to Oher as their adopted son. What is clear, though, is that Oher feels like he was exploited by the Tuhoys, which would turn a rather beautiful story into an ugly one.