It depends. By IRS law, you are responsible for your wife's debts when you file a joint return, even though those debts were incurred before marriage. However, they have a provision called the Injured Spouse provision. Using this provision, you will fill out a form that helps the IRS to determine how much of the income and refund came from her contribution to the marriage, and how much came from yours. The portion that is hers is offset, or garnished by the IRS and applied to certain debts ( delinquent student loans being such a debt). However, the portion of the refund that is yours is still refunded.
This is the IRS' recognition that you were not responsible for the debt at the time they were incurred. It also is a means by which you may still file Married Filing Jointly with more confidence because it usually leads to a much higher overall refund than would filing Married Filing Separately, when many credits and deductions are disallowed.
Here is an FAQ to assist you with this in TurboTax if you choose this option: https://ttlc.intuit.com/replies/3326788
One last note: You do have the option of not filing the Injured Spouse Form also. The IRS can offset the entire refund amount, but it will assist to pay off the debt more quickly also. That option is up to you.
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