So the Tuohy's were phonies (Michael Oher)

[OldandStillaVol]

I think this whole stink makes them all look bad, Oher included.

Indeed. If they can’t find a way to settle this out of court, I think the stink on everyone will get worse. One thing for sure, you won’t see any more ‘Blind Side’ reruns on your TV.

 

[vollygirl]

The NFLPA and the NFL both offer financial advice and planning for players.

My issue is: professionals are GOING to ask and check out his adoption status. That's their job, to protect and direct his assets. His legal next of kin is important to know. Who might challenge his wishes is important to know.

His status was odd. A competent professional is going to want to sort this out when planning his estate, trusts, etc.

It's ridiculous to think they didn't take a long look at his kinship status because it's not routine. I call BS that he didn't know until recently about his status.

Just say the last sentence of your post and be done with it. That's what you want to be true, and you're trying to find facts to make it so. But you need a new avenue cause the one you're on is a dead end.

 

[OrangeInKy]

You are misquoting him. In the Washington post article today it stated: "in his 2011 memoir, I Beat The Odds, 'Oher wrote the Tuohys were 'named as my "legal conservators’" in the summer after he finished high school, describing a scene where he went to the courthouse with the couple to “celebrate.” He wrote that the Tuohy family “explained to me that it means pretty much the same thing as ‘adoptive parents,’ but that the laws were just written in a way that took my age into account.'"

Michael Lewis responds to Michael Oher’s claims about ‘Blind Side’ money - The Washington Post

How am I misquoting him? His suit claims he didn't find out he wasn't legally adopted until recently. That's a lie. He also wrote in that book that adoption or conservatorship didn't matter to him, what mattered was being a part of a family. If they took advantage of him, lied about something, etc, I don't know, but it's dishonest for him to claim he didn't know about the conservatorship until recently. I think it's more about him not understanding what it meant, and perhaps they misled him on that. I don't know, I just reject his assertion that this thing about not being adopted hit him in February. Not seeing the Touhy's are blameless, I personally am not a fan of hers at all, so I don't care about that. I just don't see how I am misquoting him.

 

[OrangeInKy]

Why is Oher bringing all this to light now?

According to the Touhy lawyer, he couldn't get other attorneys to take this case. I have no idea if that is true, and I find it hard to believe. I would think plenty of attorneys would take a case of this magnitude from millionaire's, in spite of the odds of winning, but I know nothing about law.

 

[Nerwen Aldarion]

You can name whoever you want as your beneficiary, and it is nobody's business but yours who you pick. You know who would have been giving him financial advice? His "family's" advisors.

Yeah, his lawyer representing him for the film rights was the same lawyer that advised him on the conservatorship, a friend of the Tuohys

Meanwhile the Tuohy’s had a completely different lawyer advising them.

There’s a red flag right there

 

[wmcovol]

Tuohy’s took 80% of the proceeds from the movie. That’s the issue.

 

[1 in 102 455]

One of the first things to do when managing wealth is to decide who you want as your beneficiaries. If Oher thought he was adopted, his planning professional should've made sure so his birth parents, siblings, etc or the Tuohy's couldn't have a legal claim on his estate unless he wanted it that way. That means verifying the adoption or conservatorship, at least.

The basic first question is: who is your legal next of kin? With Oher that question seems a little complex and a certified financial planner should get that question nailed down first thing.

I call BS. You think the financial planners just believed him....."I'm adopted".... and never wanted verification? That's ridiculous.

If you are estate planning, it doesn’t matter who you are related to for your own wealth (except your wife for their spousal elective share), because they will be designating that through wills, trusts, contracts, etc. Now, if I was representing the Tuohys for estate planning purposes, then yeah I might pull an order just to make sure Oher was their adopted child. But even then I wouldn’t necessarily have to because if I put him in their documents, he’s going to be in there.

Ultimately, whether Oher was adopted or not would not does change estate planning for him, unless nobody told him to get that stuff in order, which is a bigger problem in general.

 

[RDU VOL#14]

Tuohy’s took 80% of the proceeds from the movie. That’s the issue.

I’m not saying it’s right, considering that the main stars/subjects of the movie were Oher and Mrs. Tuohy, but if the papers were drawn up in a certain way and there were 4 Tuohy’s and 1 Oher, there’s your 80/20.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

If you are estate planning, it doesn’t matter who you are related to for your own wealth (except your wife for their spousal elective share), because they will be designating that through wills, trusts, contracts, etc. Now, if I was representing the Tuohys for estate planning purposes, then yeah I might pull an order just to make sure Oher was their adopted child. But even then I wouldn’t necessarily have to because if I put him in their documents, he’s going to be in there.

Ultimately, whether Oher was adopted or not would not does change estate planning for him, unless nobody told him to get that stuff in order, which is a bigger problem in general.

Sure, who is Oher's closest blood or legal next of kin doesn't matter in estate planning? There's no way a planner would need that for him, but they would for the Tuohy's?

Why does it matter for one and not the other? Oher, unmarried and without an estate plan..... where would his wealth go in the event of his death? Let's see: his closest blood or legal kin.

Financial planning starts from: who are you related to and how are we going to deal with them in your plans.

The fact that you see this as important for the Tuohy's and not for Oher is telling.

 

[wmcovol]

I’m not saying it’s right, considering that the main stars/subjects of the movie were Oher and Mrs. Tuohy, but if the papers were drawn up in a certain way and there were 4 Tuohy’s and 1 Oher, there’s your 80/20.

That would be fine I guess if he were adopted and part of the family. But it’s now known he wasn’t and MO position is it should be 50-50 split between Oher & the Tuohy’s. Then they could split their share. There’s over $3million supposedly involved here.

 

[bamawriter]

That would be fine I guess if he were adopted and part of the family. But it’s now known he wasn’t and MO position is it should be 50-50 split between Oher & the Tuohy’s. Then they could split their share. There’s over $3million supposedly involved here.

There are 5 people prominently depicted in the movie. 4 of the 5 are the Tuohys. I'm not seeing why Oher should have had a bigger split than the others.

 

[vollygirl]

There are 5 people prominently depicted in the movie. 4 of the 5 are the Tuohys. I'm not seeing why Oher should have had a bigger split than the others.

Without him, there is no story.

Having said that, I haven't seen where he asked for 50%.

 

[bamawriter]

Without him, there is no story.

Having said that, I haven't seen where he asked for 50%.

What's the story without the Tuohys? I guess one could argue that the kids weren't essential to the story, but they were depicted in the film just like their parents and Oher.

 

[Nerwen Aldarion]

What's the story without the Tuohys? I guess one could argue that the kids weren't essential to the story, but they were depicted in the film just like their parents and Oher.

Without the Tuohy’s you have a story of a elite football player in highschool that overcame an neglected childhood with an alcoholic mother, a father murdered in prison and eventual homelessness where multiple good samaritans put him up in their homes and encouraged him to complete his education at a elite school. His talent eventually gaining him attention from the best football programs in the country and then later, an NFL career.

Gotta say that’s a pretty darn compelling story

 

[bamawriter]

Without the Tuohy’s you have a story of a elite football player in highschool that overcame an neglected childhood with an alcoholic mother, a father murdered in prison and eventual homelessness where multiple good samaritans put him up in their homes and encouraged him to complete his education at a elite school. His talent eventually gaining him attention from the best football programs in the country and then later, an NFL career.

Gotta say that’s a pretty darn compelling story

But that isn't this story. Oher's statement of fact that "the story wouldn't exist without him," is irrelevant. The story that was sold thru the book and the movie is the story as it was (with the typical Hollywood embellishment). The Tuohys are every bit as essential to the story as Oher.

 

[Orange.]

There are 5 people prominently depicted in the movie. 4 of the 5 are the Tuohys. I'm not seeing why Oher should have had a bigger split than the others.

Because the Tuohy's got themselves appointed as Oher's conservators, meaning that they had a legal obligation to look after his interests and to report annually on what they did toward conversing his interest.

They had a good friend write basically an "as told to" book about Oher, which they reviewed before submission, but omitting their names from authorship to appear to increase objectivity. The book slighted the man in their conservatorship. And from the sales. Both in violation of the Tuohys legal obligation (by their own initiative) to attend to the interests of the "ward."

Then, the book became the thing they used to sell the movie, when again they violated the terms of their conservatorship.

Their ward's interest clearly included his depiction in the book and movie and well as his compensation.

 

[bamawriter]

Because the Tuohy's got themselves appointed as Oher's conservators, meaning that they had a legal obligation to look after his interests and to report annually on what they did toward conversing his interest.

They had a good friend write basically an "as told to" book about Oher, which they reviewed before submission, but omitting their names from authorship to appear to increase objectivity. The book slighted the man in their conservatorship. And from the sales in violation of their legal obligation they had (by their own initiative) to attend to his interests.

Then, the book became the thing that sold the movie, when again they violated the terms of their conservatorship.

Even assuming every word of that is true, it doesn't answer my question.

 

[Orange.]

The Tuohys never seemed in the least interested in acting as conservator to their ward. And they lied about having adopted him to Oher and to the public -- despite all of their "stolen valor" self-congratulations and profit-taking based on a fictional adoption.

That includes their profits and writeoffs generated by their "non-profits." They are based on their falsely claimed adoption of Oher.

 

[Orange.]

The most likely reason the Tuohys sought a conservatorship to begin with -- since they never showed any interest in representing their ward and violated its terms at every turn -- is as a strategy to coverup the multi-millionaire Ole Miss booster-couple's extensive list of recruiting violations in the Oher recruitment.

That is another thing someone needs to look into.

 

[vollygirl]

Even assuming every word of that is true, it doesn't answer my question.

He gave you the story. The fact you didn't like it is irrelevant.

 

[Orange.]

Even assuming every word of that is true, it doesn't answer my question.

Of course it does. Any earnest non-backstabbing "conservator" would have asked for 50% and insisted on a say in the script? Wouldn't you if you had a ward?

The movie is powerful propaganda. It appears to affected your judgement.

 

[Nerwen Aldarion]

But that isn't this story. Oher's statement of fact that "the story wouldn't exist without him," is irrelevant. The story that was sold thru the book and the movie is the story as it was (with the typical Hollywood embellishment). The Tuohys are every bit as essential to the story as Oher.

Someone asked what the story would be without the Tuohy’s and I explained it.

Where would they be without Michael, still rich but a lot less famous

Where would Michael be without them? The same place he is now.

 

[LouderVol]

Even assuming every word of that is true, it doesn't answer my question.

because no one is going to see that movie without it being Michael Oher. Plenty of stories of rich white families adopting needy kids, those don't get made into movies typically. The Tuohy's aren't the human interest part of it, or anything that anyone would care about.

Consider the story from either side
would the movie sell if it was just the Tuohy's adopting some unnamed male black character with a different background than Oher? no.
Would the movie sell if it was just Oher getting "adopted" from homelessness by an unnamed white family, with a different background than the Tuohy's, and making it to the NFL? Yeah. his journey is special no matter who adopted him, or where he ended up going to college.

I would actually love to hear how the Tuohy's side is a compelling story at all? Rich white family can financially afford to adopt another kid, has a house big enough to give him his own room (and bed), has the connections to get him into the school they want.

 

[bamawriter]

He gave you the story.

No he didn't.

The fact you didn't like it is irrelevant.

This is true, but conversation is interesting, no?

 

[UT_Tix79]

I’m betting he’s mismanaged his money, they had a falling out, and he’s got a money chasing lawyer trying to make money.

He spoke about the conservatorship multiple times over the years, he knew what it was, and he said he didn’t care. Now, his career is over, he no longer has money coming in, he has probably blown a ton, and now he’s saying he just found out about the conservatorship in February. Which is an absolute lie. Meaning, most of the rest of his suit probably is also.

This looks to me like a shakedown, money grab from Oher, hoping the family would buckle because of their high profile stature.