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→Arrears under the Family Law Act
<blockquote><tt>(4) If a court cancels arrears under this section, the court may cancel interest that has accrued, under section 11.1 of the ''Family Maintenance Enforcement Act'', on the cancelled arrears if satisfied that it would be grossly unfair not to cancel the accrued interest.</tt></blockquote>
A similar section of the old ''Family Relations Act'' , the law before the ''Family Law Act'', was described as a "complete code" regarding the reduction or cancellation of arrears under that act, meaning that the only ground on which a court could reduce or cancel arrears was "gross unfairness," as set out in section 96(2) of the old act. The courts will probably take have taken the same approach to section 174 of the ''[[Family Law Act]]''.
The courts have interpreted "gross unfairness" under the ''Family Relations Law Act'' to mean that the payor is not only incapable of repaying the arrears but is also unlikely to be able to repay them in the foreseeable future without suffering severe financial hardship. If you are asking the court to make an order reducing arrears, you must be prepared to prove that it would be not just "unfair," but ''grossly'' unfair for you to have to pay off the arrears. The leading case that describes the legal principles about cancelling arrears is a 1999 case called [https://canlii.ca/t/1d20m Earle v. Earle'', in which the court said this:
*What efforts have you made to pay the child support you were required to pay?
*Are there any other circumstances, such as catastrophic business losses or the unintended loss of your employment, changes in the children's residence, or new financial obligations in relation to your family that the court should take into <span class="noglossary">account</span>?
Be prepared to provide to the a court a form called financial statement (, Form F8 in the Supreme Court and Form 4 in the Provincial Court) , that summarizes all of your assets and debts, and income and expenses, if you intend to show the court that you cannot pay your arrears. Complete financial disclosure is absolutely essential. The leading case that set out the legal principles with respect to cancellation of arrears in British Columbia is ''Earle v. Earle'', 1999 CanLii 6914 (BCSC).
==Collecting arrears of support==