My fiance' has a child from a previous marriage and I would like to know if my wages can be garnished for his arrears owed in child support in NYS?

No, first off you are not married, so there is no legal bond between you. Even if there were, YOUR wages cannot be garnished because the child is his responsibility. You personally do not have a legal obligation because the child is not yours.

No, and even if you were married they still can not get your wages.

Good question, I think this is the first time I remember this one being asked here.

The only way they can touch your money, is if you happen to file your tax returns as married filing jointly once you are married. Then they can take all of the arrears out of it. Other than that, they will go after him alone, what you do or money you make doesn't matter. They can take his license away, he can serve jail time, lots of things. They are getting more & more hard core about people not paying child support.

I'm going to have to disagree to an extent. I go to another site and there is one lady on there that actually divorced her husband because of things like this. Her income played a big part in what her husband owed for CS and on other bills having to do with the step-kids. Her husband and her got a divorce just because of this. The ex was getting way too much money from them because of the new wife's income. The only way they could stop her from taking more was to divorce. They SAY that they can't touch the new wife's money but they can and do. This isn't the only person I know of that this has happened to.

So maybe they can't touch your money for arrears but when it comes to determining what is owed for other things, be careful!

I know they can and will garnish your checking account if it is a joint account. And who evers money is there it WILL BE GONE. Then you will have to prove what portion of the money is yours, which is time consuming and costly. I would suggest separate accounts. I wish you the best.