Gaskie v. Gaskie

John and Eleanor Gaskie, to whom we will also refer as husband and wife, were divorced in 1969. The Denver district court thereafter appointed a Special Master to hear issues covered generally within the concepts of alimony, child support and property settlement. C.R.C.P. 53(b). The master conducted hearings and took great volumes of evidence. He issued his findings of fact, conclusions of law and recommendations about 15 months later. The trial court adopted them virtually in toto, without first reading the record of the proceedings and against objections advanced by the wife.

The focus of…