Family Separation Allowance: $300 a Month When Orders Split You Apart

The short version

Family Separation Allowance (FSA) pays you $300 a month when military duty keeps you away from your dependents for more than 30 days in a row. The rate went up from $250 to $300 effective January 1, 2026. Like your other allowances, it is not taxed.

FSA is not automatic. You have to submit DD Form 1561 through your personnel or finance office, and plenty of service members leave the money on the table because nobody told them to file. If you deployed, went TDY for a month or more, or took an unaccompanied tour this year, check your LES for it.

Who qualifies

The basic test, per DFAS, has three parts:

• You have dependents (a spouse, children, or other dependents enrolled in DEERS).
• Military duty separates you from them.
• The separation lasts more than 30 continuous days.

Both members of a dual-military couple with dependents can qualify when orders separate the family. The allowance is the same regardless of rank, and it stacks on top of other entitlements like hostile fire or imminent danger pay.

The three flavors: FSA-R, FSA-S, and FSA-T

Per DoD's military pay site, FSA comes in three types, and you can only draw one at a time:

1. FSA-R (Restricted). Your dependents are not authorized to move to your permanent duty station at government expense, or they cannot accompany you for certified medical reasons and you take the unaccompanied tour. This is the common one for overseas unaccompanied assignments.
2. FSA-S (Ship). You are serving aboard a ship away from its homeport for more than 30 days straight.
3. FSA-T (Temporary). You are on TDY away from your permanent station for more than 30 continuous days and your dependents are not living at or near the TDY location. This covers many deployments and long schools.

How much lands in your paycheck

FSA pays $300 per month, effective January 1, 2026. For partial months, it is prorated at $10 per day. A 45-day separation, for example, pays the full $300 for the first full month plus $10 a day for the remaining 15 days, or $450 total.

The clock runs on continuous days. A short return home can reset it, and the rules on visits are specific, so if your family visits you, or you swing through home mid-deployment, tell your finance office and let them apply the rules rather than guessing.

How to actually get paid

1. File DD Form 1561 (Statement to Substantiate Payment of Family Separation Allowance) with your servicing personnel or finance office. Do it as soon as you know the separation will pass 30 days.
2. Watch your LES. FSA shows up in the entitlements column. If it is missing after a full month, follow up. Back pay is common when paperwork lags.
3. Put it to work. $300 a month during a six-month deployment is $1,800. Deployed with access to the Savings Deposit Program? That is an easy place for it to earn 10% while you are gone.

Separation from your family is the hard part. The allowance exists because Congress recognizes the extra costs that come with running a household from two places. File the form and collect what you have earned.