ROBINSON, J.
The defendant, Alan J. Gordon, appeals from the denial of his motion to open the court's judgment dissolving his marriage to the plaintiff, Carol S. Gordon, which incorporated by reference the terms of a separation agreement entered into by the parties. The defendant claims that the court abused its discretion in denying his motion to open because its decision was based on erroneous findings that the separation agreement was fair and equitable, that neither the plaintiff nor her counsel had coerced the defendant into signing the separation agreement, and that no fraud was committed by the plaintiff with respect to errors in her financial affidavit. We conclude that the record is inadequate
The record reveals the following relevant facts and procedural history. The parties were married on May 28, 1989.
On April 18, 2011, the parties appeared in court having negotiated and executed a separation agreement. The court, after conducting under oath a thorough canvass of both parties regarding their understanding of the terms of the agreement, rendered a judgment of dissolution of marriage that incorporated by reference the separation agreement.
On August 9, 2011, the defendant filed an appearance as a self-represented party along with a motion to open the judgment of dissolution. According to the defendant, he had signed the separation agreement "under duress and intimidation by the plaintiff's counsel." In his motion, the defendant stated that he had been arrested prior to the filing of the divorce action for "questionable non-physical domestic circumstances." The arrest resulted in the issuance of a protective order.
The court held a hearing on the second motion to open and other postjudgment motions on November 26, 2012. When counsel for the defendant tried to raise an allegation that the plaintiff's counsel had coerced the defendant into signing the agreement, the court indicated that that issue already had been previously argued and decided by the court against the defendant.
We first set forth the legal standards governing our review. "[O]ur courts have inherent power to open, correct and modify judgments, but that authority is restricted by statute and the rules of practice.
"We do not undertake a plenary review of the merits of a decision of the trial court to grant or to deny a motion to open a judgment.... In an appeal from a denial of a motion to open a judgment, our review is limited to the issue of whether the trial court has acted unreasonably and in clear abuse of its discretion.... In determining whether the trial court abused its discretion, this court must make every reasonable presumption in favor of its action.... The manner in which [this] discretion is exercised will not be disturbed so long as the court could reasonably conclude as it did." (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Weinstein v. Weinstein, 275 Conn. 671, 685, 882 A.2d 53 (2005). A trial court's determinations regarding the existence of a mutual mistake or the elements of fraud or duress are findings of fact that we will not disturb on appeal unless they are shown to be clearly erroneous. See Jenks v. Jenks, 232 Conn. 750, 753, 657 A.2d 1107 (1995); Terry v. Terry, 102 Conn.App. 215, 223, 925 A.2d 375, cert. denied, 284 Conn. 911, 931 A.2d 934 (2007).
The defendant's sole claim on appeal is that the court abused its discretion in denying his second motion to open. In support of that claim, the defendant argues that the court's decision was based on three erroneous findings; specifically, that the separation agreement was fair and equitable, that there had been no coercion by the plaintiff or her counsel in securing the defendant's signature on the separation agreement, and that the plaintiff had not committed fraud with respect to her financial affidavit disclosures. In the second motion to open and accompanying memorandum of law, however, the only ground that the defendant raised as a basis for opening the judgment was the plaintiff's alleged fraud in failing to disclose assets on her financial affidavit. "[A] party cannot present a case to the trial court on one theory and then seek appellate relief on a different one...." Albemarle Weston Street, LLC v. Hartford, 104 Conn.App. 701, 709, 936 A.2d 656 (2007). "[W]e have consistently declined to review claims based on a ground different from that raised in the trial court." (Internal quotation marks omitted.) In re Jah'za G., 141 Conn.App. 15, 21, 60 A.3d 392, cert. denied, 308 Conn. 926, 64 A.3d 329 (2013). Because fraud was the only ground properly before the court in its consideration of the second motion to open, that was the sole ground preserved for appeal.
The court in the present case did not file a written memorandum of decision explaining its ruling denying the motion to open, nor did it prepare and sign a transcript of an oral ruling. The defendant did not file a notice pursuant to Practice Book § 64-1 with the appellate clerk's office, nor did he file a motion asking the court to articulate the factual and legal basis for its ruling. See Practice Book § 66-5. On occasion, we have overlooked an appellant's failure to ensure that the trial court sign a transcript of an oral decision provided that the appellant had filed an unsigned transcript and "we [were] able to identify readily the court's decision, encompassing its findings...." (Emphasis added.) State v. Payne, 121 Conn.App. 308, 312, 996 A.2d 302, cert. denied, 297 Conn. 919, 996 A.2d 1193 (2010); see also Stechel v. Foster, 125 Conn.App. 441, 445-46, 8 A.3d 545 (2010), cert. denied, 300 Conn. 904, 12 A.3d 572 (2011). Here, although the defendant has provided us with an unsigned copy of the transcript of the hearing on the motion to open, we cannot readily identify any portion that encompasses the court's factual findings with respect to the defendant's claim of fraud. Other than stating at one point that the defendant was intelligent, knew what he was doing, and was represented by counsel when he agreed to the terms of the separation agreement, the court concluded upon its review of the record that there was no basis for opening the dissolution judgment. The record contains no findings by the court with regard
The judgment is affirmed.
In this opinion the other judges concurred.
In the present case, we do not decline to review the defendant's claim, rather we review the claim on the record provided. Nor is our resolution founded solely upon the defendant's failure to seek an articulation, but upon his failure to procure a memorandum of decision.