Employee gets his wages garnished because someone with a similar name to him owes child support: 'How can they just start taking money from me without any verification as to whether the child is mine?'

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Emmy Pratt • Senior Editor
Aug 20, 2026 8:30 PM EDT

How does a mistake like this happen?

A cocky person who has never faced any consequences for their poor decisions might think they're above man-made systems and processes, such as the court system. A deadbeat parent might expect that if they've evaded paying child support for their kid's entire childhood, they won't have to pay it once they turn 18. Much like taxes and credit card bills, child support payments don't just evaporate when their due date passes. They stick around for years and years, until eventually the child support overpays them voluntarily, or their wages are garnished. If you've ever worked with someone who asks to be paid under the table, chances are they are trying to avoid paying child support at all costs. 

If someone has managed to get away with not paying for child support for the whole period of time their kids are under 18, they obviously have found some sort of way of evading it. Some deadbeat parents put pressure on their exes not to pursue child support, calling them lazy and money-hungry. At the end of the day, the law is not going to be on the side of somebody who refuses to support their kids. 

The dad in this story probably thought that he was going to get away with not paying child support, but wage garnishment came for him. Well, it didn't exactly come for him. It came for a guy who has the same first and last name as him, but a different middle initial. Now this innocent guy, u/Kitchen_Temporary213 is getting his wages garnished by the government, and nobody he calls seems to be able to help him! If you think you're having a bad day, this guy is probably having a worse day than you. 

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  • A man after discovering that his wages are being garnished to pay for child support for a child that isn't his.
    via Sebastian Herrmann

    A man after discovering that his wages are being garnished to pay for child support for a child that isn't his. 

    Scene shown is a visual representation.

  • My paychecks are being garnished for child support but I have no children

    Today I got paid early morning and after checking my pay stub I noticed 8% of my pay had been subtracted for garnishments. Under garnishments it reads 'Support 1' and I was immediately concerned and confused. I checked my past pay statements but none of them have been garnished except this one.
    via u/Kitchen_Temporary213
  • At the end of my shift I contacted HR and questioned why this was happening. She asked if I had any children and I said none. After some digging around she found a case for child support that my social security is in. I am still in possession of my social security card so not sure where that information could of been leaked.
    via u/Kitchen_Temporary213
  • The name of the guy is similar to mine but not 100% the same. Both our first and last name is the same but different middle name initials and he has two last names in the document. The child and obligee's names are people I have never met or heard of. HR gave me a number for the official Illinois HFS Division of Child
    via u/Kitchen_Temporary213
  • Support Services (DCSS) customer service to call. After calling the gave me an email where im supposed to send a bunch of my information, my employer information, and proof of my pay being garnished and the lady on the phone told me it would take some time to process and to not call back for 6 weeks. I asked if
    via u/Kitchen_Temporary213
  • they would continue to take my money in my paychecks and she couldn't get me a straight answer. I emailed them with everything I was asked and now im just waiting. This all happened today and I am now I just can't relax.
    via u/Kitchen_Temporary213
  • How does this even happen? Is it fraud or a mistake? How can they just start taking money from me without any verification as to whether the child is mine? Am I stuck having to wait while my next couple of paychecks continue to be garnished or is there something else I can do?
    via u/Kitchen_Temporary213
  • Hippie-Farts call a local Employment Law lawyer and ask for advice. this is a really odd and messy situation. you can also file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division, they would open a case number for you.
    via u/Hippie-Farts
  • PrettyPurrfect The employer is legally obligated to abide by all court orders received in regards to garnishments. They don't have the option not to abide by court orders just because the person you orders is for Pinky promises the order is bulls and for the wrong person
    via u/PrettyPurrfect
  • Jedi-Mermaid-TARDIS Word. I had my pay garnished a few years ago for debts someone with my first and last name had incurred, at addresses at which I'd never lived but within 50 miles of my home. (Seattle proper versus its suburbs.) I am thankful it was only a collections agency. A phone call and their Google search cleared me in that case. I wish you the best with child support.
    via u/Jedi-Mermaid-TARDIS
  • Peptidesforthewin Call back and demand to speak to a supervisor!!! If this truly is a case a of mistaken identity, you need to stay on top of this and that means calling daily or weekly. Get everything in writing!!! And if you have to send them anything- send it certified mail! Good luck! Also run your credit and background report - dispute any inconsistencies on your credit report and freeze your credit until this is resolved. It may also be in your best interest to contact an attorney in that
    via u/Peptidesforthewin
  • BuckleMandolin2 Definitely ask for a supervisor. The front line staff are usually trained to just get you off the phone as fast as possible. Six weeks of losing money because of their clerical error is totally unacceptable, you need to be annoying until its fixed.
    via u/BuckleMandolin2
  • rahah2023 My husband got pulled over for speeding and suddenly they wanted to arrest him bc some man in Florida (not our state) with a similar first & last name (different middle & different dob) had a warrant- the government can be lazy and sloppy and then it's up to us to clear our names
    via u/rahah2023
  • Agency_Junior Yup it happens a lot got a speeding ticket and a warrant from a failure to appear from a woman that lived in a different state with the same first and last name birthday and month but diff year dmv suspended my license for it. The court house that was over 6hrs away gave me the vehicle license plate which I had to pay to get a report on whom it actually belonged to all of this info the court clerk still insisted I drive there to speak to a judge this error ended up costing me sever
    via u/Agency_Junior
  • Boogity2024 Your employer should have received a notice of garnishment and they should have given you a copy (in my jurisdiction, the employer receives three copies, one of which says in big bold letters, "GIVE TO EMPLOYEE"). Along with everything else you're doing, ask HR for a copy of the garnishment order. And ask they why they didn't give it to you before they started enforcing the garnishment order.
    via u/Boogity2024
  • aelis68 This. Your employer made the change in their payroll system but it's a court order and the funds are getting sent. The court likely made a typo. It may be on you to contact that jurisdiction to prove your identity is not the individual on the order.
    via u/aelis68
  • Visual-Reserve-2800 Somebody was lazy and decided it was too hard to verify who you were.
    via u/Visual-Reserve-2800
  • Bhamlaxy3 Contact your state rep or senator. I was the chief of staff for an Illinois state rep. We specialize in weird cases like this and cutting through bureaucracy. There's a legislative liaison at that department and one of their primary roles is responding to inquiries like this. And they like to make legislators happy. Now.... It depends on who your state rep is, how good their staff is, and who the liaison of that department is. So no promises... But it could be a rapid solution.
    via u/Bhamlaxy3
  • dental_oddity I know somebody that owed a bunch of back child support, and it randomly ended up getting paid off by someone who stole his social and had their checks garnished. The person never said anything about it because they stole his social obviously so they couldn't do anything about it. I always wonder how stuff like this happens. I hope you're able to get it resolved!
    via u/dental_oddity

  • Do you know somebody who has been in a similar situation to this guy? How did they get out of it?

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employee wages deadbeat dad child support dad garnish
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