Child Support and Wage Garnishment
Question 1: My wife pays child support to her ex-spouse. Can child support garnish my wages if she changes her last name to mine? Question 2: I file an injured spouse form every year when doing my taxes and my income tax gets garnished every year. I don’t feel I should be responsible for my wife’s debts. Can I stop this from happening?
No, child support enforcement cannot garnish your wages no matter what last name your wife uses. You are not the obligor.
However, the reason your income tax refund is garnished is due to your filing a joint tax return with your wife.
Unfortunately, although it is your wife’s debt, since she is a designated recipient of the tax refund, the entire amount gets taken regardless of your also being a recipient of the refund.
In order to protect yourself, you would need to file a separate tax return.