What is the test for cancelling or reducing child support arrears?

In Gray v. Gray, supra, the child support payor who was requesting a cancellation of arrears was able to pay when the arrears accumulated, but simply refused to do so. The Court held that in this type of situation, the court should typically give effect to the outstanding court order, unless there are compelling reasons not to do so. It held that the factors that the court should consider in determining whether to exercise its discretion to cancel or reduce arrears in this type of situation included the following: 1. The nature of the obligation to support, whether contractual, statutory or judicial; 2. The ongoing financial capacity of the child support payor; 3. The on-going need of the child support recipient and the child; 4. Unreasonable and unexplained delay on the part of the child support recipient in seeking to enforce payment of the obligation, tempered with the fact that such support obligation exists for the child’s benefit, is charged with a corresponding obligation to be used by the recipient parent, and cannot be bargained away to the prejudice of the child; 5. Unreasonable and unexplained delay on the part of the child support payor in seeking appropriate relief from their child support obligation; and 6. Where the payment of substantial arrears will cause undue hardship, the court may exercise its discretion on looking at the total picture, weighing the actual needs of the child support recipient and child and the current and financial capacity of the payor, to grant a measure of relief, where deemed appropriate.