Family Separation Allowance 2026 — Who Gets the New $300

The Family Separation Allowance just got its first raise in 22 years. As of January 1, 2026 — retroactive to December 18, 2025 — the FSA monthly rate jumped from $250 to $300. Most of the explainer articles still on Google haven’t been updated. The DFAS page has the new number. So does the FY26 NDAA. If you’re looking at an LES from January or later, the line item should be $300, prorated.

I’ve been processing FSA claims since the rate was still $100 in 2003. The dollar change is the easy part. The harder part — the part that trips up service members and unit S-1s alike — is which of the three FSA types you actually qualify for, whether dual-military couples can both claim it, and how to write the request so it doesn’t bounce back from finance.

Here’s the full picture for 2026.

FSA 2026 Rate at a Glance — $300 Per Month

The basics:

• Monthly rate: $300 (up from $250)
• Daily rate when prorated: $10/day (after the initial 30-day threshold is met)
• Effective date: January 1, 2026 — retroactive to December 18, 2025
• Authority: FY26 National Defense Authorization Act
• Tax status: Taxable income unless you’re also in a Combat Zone Tax Exclusion area
• Stacks with: Hostile Fire Pay, Imminent Danger Pay, sea pay, hardship duty pay, and CZTE

If your LES shows the old $250 rate after February 2026, it means your finance office hasn’t updated the entitlement code. Call S-1. They can correct it retroactively and the back pay will hit your next paycheck.

Who Qualifies for FSA

FSA pays when an active duty service member is separated from their dependents for more than 30 continuous days under orders, and the dependents are not authorized to accompany them at government expense. That’s the test. Three pieces have to be true at the same time:

1. You have qualifying dependents. Spouse, children, dependent parents enrolled in DEERS. Single members without dependents don’t qualify for FSA — that’s a common misconception. The “separation” is from family, not from a duty station.

2. The orders prevent the family from joining you at government expense. Unaccompanied tours, deployments, sea duty, certain TDY assignments. If the orders authorize concurrent travel and you choose to leave the family behind, that doesn’t qualify.

3. The separation runs more than 30 continuous days. Day 31 is when entitlement kicks in. The first 30 days are not paid even after you cross the threshold — FSA starts on day 31, not day 1.

One more thing finance people will tell you that other articles won’t: the 30-day clock pauses if you return home for any reason. Mid-deployment R&R back to the States resets the clock for the duration of that visit, then resumes when you get back to theater. It doesn’t break entitlement entirely, but it interrupts the count.

FSA-R, FSA-S, and FSA-T — Which One Applies When

There are three flavors of FSA. The rate is the same ($300/month for all three) but the trigger is different, and the paperwork is filed differently for each.

FSA-R (Restricted) is the most common. It applies when you’re on an unaccompanied tour — orders to a duty station where dependents are not authorized at government expense, and they remain at your previous duty station or your designated place. Korea, certain remote OCONUS posts, and most unaccompanied PCS assignments fall under FSA-R.

FSA-S (Ship) is for Navy and certain Marine Corps members on a ship that’s away from homeport for more than 30 continuous days. The clock runs when the ship is underway or in a non-homeport. Pierside time at the homeport doesn’t count. FSA-S is the one most often missed because sailors assume it’s automatic — it isn’t. The DD Form 1561 has to be filed each underway period.

FSA-T (Temporary) covers TDY assignments lasting more than 30 days. Schools, training pipelines, temporary duty. If your TDY orders are for 32 days and you’re separated from your family the whole time, FSA-T pays for two days ($20 prorated). For longer schools — flight school, MOS-producing schools — it can be a meaningful chunk of money over a year.

A few common mistakes I see:

• Sailors confusing FSA-R and FSA-S during unaccompanied shore tours after a sea tour. If you’re on an unaccompanied shore tour, it’s FSA-R. The ship type doesn’t matter once you’re off the ship.
• Schools in the 28-30 day window. If your training is 29 days, no FSA. If it’s 31 days, you get one day prorated. The threshold matters.
• Back-to-back TDYs that total more than 30 days but each individual TDY is shorter. The rule requires continuous separation under a single order, not aggregated time. There are exceptions for some training pipelines — your S-1 will know which ones.

Dual-Military Couples Both Get FSA

This is the rule most often missed by S-1 offices and even by the service members themselves. Since October 1, 2008, dual-military couples can both receive FSA when both are deployed or assigned to qualifying duty assignments that prevent them from being together.

The setup that triggers dual FSA: both spouses are service members. Before the qualifying assignment, they resided together. Then both get orders that meet FSA criteria, separating them from each other. Each spouse files an FSA claim. Each one collects $300/month for the duration of the separation.

If you’re in a dual-military marriage and only one of you is claiming FSA, check this. I’ve seen finance offices process the wife’s claim and stop there, assuming the husband’s separate claim was a duplicate. It isn’t. Two separate entitlements, both payable, both stack on top of all other special pays.

Same-sex dual-military couples are covered identically. So are domestic partnerships recognized under DoD policy. The rule is about the assignment situation, not the relationship type.

How to Claim FSA — DA Form 5960 and DD Form 1561

Two forms, depending on situation:

DA Form 5960 is the basic dependent entitlement form. Army, Air Force, and Space Force use this for FSA-R initial certification. Most service members file it once when they first establish dependent entitlements (at AIT or first duty station) and never touch it again until a marriage, divorce, birth, or death changes their dependent status. If your family situation hasn’t changed, you usually don’t refile.

DD Form 1561 is the FSA-specific request. It’s filed for each new separation period. Underway period, deployment, school. Date the orders began, date the 30-day threshold was met, dependents’ location, certifying signature. Submit to finance through your S-1.

Common rejection reasons and how to avoid them:

• Missing dependents’ address. The form requires where the family is actually living during the separation. If you list the unit address or your APO, it’ll bounce.
• Orders without 30+ day duration. The orders attached have to clearly show the separation will exceed 30 days. If your TDY orders are amended mid-trip to extend past 30 days, attach both sets.
• Stale certifying signature. Your unit signature page has to be current. A certification dated more than 60 days before the FSA claim will sometimes bounce — refresh it before submitting.
• FSA-S without an underway certification. The ship’s operations department issues an underway certification. Your division YN should have it. Without it, the claim doesn’t process.

Reservists and Guard members activated for more than 30 days get FSA under the same rules as active duty. The form goes through your activated unit’s S-1, not your home Reserve unit.

Is FSA Taxable? Where It Shows on Your LES

FSA is taxable income unless you’re in a Combat Zone Tax Exclusion area for the period you earn it. That’s worth saying clearly because at least once a quarter someone asks me why their FSA was taxed when their BAH and BAS weren’t. BAH and BAS are nontaxable allowances by statute. FSA is a taxable allowance.

On your LES:

• Entitlements column: FSA shows as “FAM SEP” or “FSA” with the monthly amount
• Taxes column: Federal withholding applied (and state if applicable)
• Year-end W-2: FSA is included in Box 1 (taxable wages)

If you’re in a CZTE area, FSA is excluded along with your base pay (for enlisted) or up to the officer cap. That’s a meaningful chunk — at $300/month for a six-month deployment, $1,800 of otherwise-taxable income gets pulled into the tax-free bucket. The CZTE rules are detailed in a separate writeup.

One additional wrinkle: FSA stops automatically when you return home for more than a brief period. If you take 30 days of post-deployment leave and your LES still shows FSA, your finance office hasn’t processed the return. That’s an overpayment you’ll eventually have to repay, with interest. Catch it early.

How FSA Stacks With Other Pay

This is where a six-month deployment actually pays. A deployed E-5 with six years of service to a CZTE-designated area can be earning the following simultaneously:

• Base pay (tax-free under CZTE for enlisted): ~$3,500/month
• BAH (continues from home of record, nontaxable): varies by location
• BAS (nontaxable): $465.77/month
• Hostile Fire Pay or Imminent Danger Pay: $225/month
• Family Separation Allowance: $300/month
• Hardship Duty Pay (if applicable): up to $150/month
• Sea pay or career sea pay premium (if shipboard): varies

Add it up and the total monthly compensation for that E-5 can run $5,500-$7,000 depending on location and duration, with most of it tax-free under CZTE. The Family Separation Allowance is a meaningful piece of that stack but not the dominant one — the real money on a deployment comes from CZTE applied to base pay plus the housing allowance continuing from home.

For officers, the stack is similar but CZTE is capped at the highest enlisted pay rate plus the HFP/IDP rate. FSA stacks on top of that cap as a separate line item.

What to Do This Month If You’re Eligible

Three actions if FSA applies to you and isn’t currently on your LES:

One: pull your most recent LES and look for “FAM SEP” in the Entitlements column. If it’s missing and you’re separated under qualifying orders for 30+ days, your S-1 didn’t file the DD 1561. Walk it over to them this week.

Two: if you’re dual military and only one of you is collecting FSA, file the second claim today. Both spouses are entitled when both are separated under qualifying assignments. The backdated payment can run into thousands of dollars if you’ve been on parallel assignments for months.

Three: if your LES still shows $250 instead of $300 for FSA entries in 2026, the entitlement code wasn’t updated. Get S-1 to refresh it. The back pay will be the difference times months elapsed — small per month, but adds up over a deployment.

The $50 raise is small money on a single month. Over a 12-month unaccompanied tour or a 9-month deployment, it adds up. Make sure your LES reflects it and that you’re not leaving entitlements on the table.