While the CARES Act suspends debts like overdue student loans or back taxes that typically lead to the garnishment of tax refunds, it doesn't apply to delinquent child support payments.
That means the government's relief checks will still be offset if you're overdue.
The offsets apply to the spouse's stimulus payments as well, even if they typically qualify for relief in situations like tax refunds.
On this subject Opus 17 wrote:
The stimulus payment is actually an advance payment of a new credit that will be on the 2020 tax return. When you file next year, the credit will be recalculated. If you qualify for a larger payment than you receive now, the extra gets added to your refund, and if you qualify for less than you receive now, you don't have to pay it back.
This creates the possibility that when you file your 2020 tax return, and if you file jointly and include an innocent spouse claim, you might get part of the stimulus credit back next year. However, this is a very fluid situation and we don't really know what will happen in the future. At least your spouse's debt gets a significant payment applied to reduce it.
**Say "Thanks" by clicking the thumb icon in a post
**Mark the post that answers your question by clicking on "Mark as Best Answer"
