Marriage of McCracken, 24CA1465

Benjamin R. McCracken (husband) filed to dissolve his marriage to Lynn M. McCracken (wife) in Colorado District Court.
The district court held a permanent orders hearing, which wife did not attend after being denied her last-minute request to appear virtually.
The court divided the marital assets, setting aside husband’s premarital property and allocating assets and debts between the parties, and declined to award maintenance to wife.
Wife appealed pro se, raising numerous issues regarding property division, denial of maintenance, judicial bias, and attorney misconduct.
The Colorado Court of Appeals reviewed wife’s contentions, noting her noncompliance with appellate briefing rules but evaluated arguments to the extent possible given the record.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Property Division	Court failed to account for common law marriage from 2012; assets misclassified.	Property division was appropriate based on evidence and marriage date.	No abuse of discretion; property division affirmed.
Maintenance	Maintenance denial was inadequate, did not consider financial abuse/disparity.	Maintenance properly denied based on evidence.	Court’s maintenance determination affirmed.
Judicial Bias	Judge was biased, disregarded wife’s evidence, and favored husband.	No bias evident; adverse rulings not equate to bias.	No showing of bias; judgment affirmed.
Attorney Misconduct	Attorneys had conflicts and mishandled evidence, affecting outcome.	Arguments unpreserved, unsupported by record or legal authority.	Claims not preserved or developed; no reversal.

Melat, Pressman & Higbie, L.L.P. v. Hannon Law Firm, L.L.C., 2012 CO 61 (failure to raise argument in district court precludes appellate review)
Brighton Sch. Dist. 27J v. Transamerica Premier Ins. Co., 923 P.2d 328 (Colo. App. 1996) (reviewing court need not search record or develop arguments for party)
In re Estate of Elliott, 993 P.2d 474 (Colo. 2000) (standard for reversal based on judicial bias)