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.
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.Oher and the 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.
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' 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 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.