witholding tax refund for student loans

texas. unfortunately i ran into some financial hard times and defaulted on my student loan for college. i was making pymnts to texas guaranteed state loan-collection dept. i then was unable to pay for about 5-6 months and never kept up communication with them. i am on my feet again and have a steady job and wish to resume pymnts. however, i fear they have put a hold on my federal income tax refund. ? can they do that? my status was married-filing joint. do they have any legal standing to withold her part of the return-percentage wise? should we re-file as married filing separate-let her claim our son-she has him insured under her policy-then they should only have access to my return-how can they have claim to her federal return? are we joint and severably liable even though the loans were initiated and paid out long before we even met? any advice before i call the irs and tgsl corp?.....thanks.

First of all, they can withhold the refund in this case; however, there are three types of relief available:

1) Innocent spouse relief, which applies to all joint filers.

2) Separation of liability, which applies to joint filers who are divorced, widowed, legally separated, or have not lived together for the past 12 months.

3) Equitable relief, which applies to all joint filers who do not qualify for innocent spouse relief or separation of liability and to married couples filing separate returns in community property states.

You must file Form 8857, Request for Innocent Spouse Relief, to request any of these kinds of relief. IRS Publication 971, Innocent Spouse Relief, which you can download for free at the IRS site at: http://www.irs.ustreas.gov/forms_pubs/index.html, explains these kinds of relief and who may qualify for them.