Military Family PCS Moving Checklist 2026

Table of Contents

• Your PCS Timeline: An Example Plan From Orders to Settled
  • An Example 8–12 Week Planning Window
  • Orders, Documents, and Power of Attorney
• Household Goods, PPM Moves, and Vehicle Shipment
  • How PPM Payment Works
  • Vehicles: CONUS vs OCONUS
• PCS Moving Budget: DLA, TLE, and Out-of-Pocket Costs
• PCS Checklist for Kids and Pets: Schools, Child Care, and Pets
  • Schools: Start With Your School Liaison
  • Child Care: Request Early
  • Pet Relocation: Verify, Do Not Assume
• Medical, Dental, and Immunization Records
• Spouse Employment, Taxes, and Stress During a PCS
  • Spouse Employment Transition
  • Tax Questions to Check
  • Relocation Stress
• Housing, Lodging, and Lease Termination
  • Ending a Lease Early Under the SCRA
• Conclusion: A Plan You Can Update When Your Dates Change
• Frequently Asked Questions

Last reviewed: October 27, 2026. This is a planning guide, not an official military resource. Entitlements and rules change through Joint Travel Regulations (JTR) updates and service guidance, so confirm anything involving money, eligibility or deadlines with your transportation office, finance office or installation legal assistance office.

Your PCS Timeline: An Example Plan From Orders to Settled

A PCS moving checklist is easier to work through when you start early and build it around your own dates. The timeline below uses an 8 to 12 week window as an example. Your real window may be longer or much shorter, depending on when orders arrive, and that's okay: the order of the steps still helps when the calendar is tight.

One step belongs at the very top no matter how much time you have. Military OneSource advises reaching out to the transportation office at your outbound installation as soon as you receive your orders, and its moving FAQ notes that contacting them as soon as you have PCS orders improves your chances of getting preferred move dates. That office (names vary by service, such as TMO, PPPO or ITO) confirms your weight allowance and what your orders authorize, and helps you schedule your shipment.

An Example 8–12 Week Planning Window

The phases below are personal planning targets, not official deadlines. Some steps, like contacting the school liaison or requesting child care, can start as soon as you know where you're going. Official deadlines (for example, paperwork windows for a PPM) and dates your moving company confirms should be tracked separately from your own targets.

• As soon as orders arrive (example: 12 to 8 weeks out): Read your orders carefully, contact your transportation office and request move counseling, and start scheduling your shipment. Contact your school liaison, request child care at the gaining installation, and start the housing search. Begin researching temporary lodging and your vehicle plan now too: whether you'll drive, ship, store or sell a vehicle, and where you might stay at each end if housing isn't ready.
• Example: 8 to 4 weeks out: Confirm household goods pickup dates with your moving company, decide whether any part of the move will be a PPM and get it set up through your transportation office, give your landlord written notice if you rent and qualify, request medical, dental and school records, and book temporary lodging as early as your dates allow.
• Example: 4 to 1 weeks out: Confirm lodging reservations and your vehicle plan with the transportation office, set aside a "do not pack" box for important documents, and, if you're doing a PPM, line up a certified scale for your empty and full weigh-ins (more on that below).
• Move week and after: Walk through the inventory with the movers, keep lodging and travel receipts, file your travel voucher, and submit PPM paperwork within the window your transportation office gives you.

Orders, Documents, and Power of Attorney

Your orders are what your transportation office, finance office, landlord and others will ask for, so keep copies in a secure folder of your own, paper and digital. Keep that folder and other important records with you rather than in the shipment. If the service member will be away during pickup or delivery, ask your installation legal assistance office about a power of attorney well before the movers arrive.

Household Goods, PPM Moves, and Vehicle Shipment

You have two main paths for your belongings: a government-arranged shipment, or moving some or all of them yourself through a Personally Procured Move (PPM), the current name for what used to be called a DITY move. Some families split it, sending most goods with movers and moving certain items themselves.

How PPM Payment Works

There is no single "2026 rate" for a PPM. Military OneSource explains that the government pays up to 100% of what it would have cost to hire a mover, based on your weight allowances, which its PCS guide describes as the government's constructed "best value" cost. Confirm your estimate and what your move qualifies for with your transportation office. What you actually receive depends on:

• The weight you actually move, documented with weight tickets and capped at your authorized weight allowance
• The distance between your old and new duty stations
• Your paperwork, including advance authorization of the PPM through your transportation office

How PPM weight is documented. You don't weigh individual belongings. Instead, the vehicle or trailer you load is weighed on a certified scale twice: once empty and once full. Coast Guard PPM guidance, for example, states that members must provide certified empty and full weight tickets from a public weighmaster or government scale, and that a PPM needs advance authorization to qualify for the incentive. Your transportation office will tell you exactly which weigh-ins your move needs, such as when you use more than one vehicle or make more than one trip.

Keep receipts for the truck or trailer rental, fuel, tolls, packing materials and weigh fees, and ask your finance office or a tax professional how they affect the taxable part of your payment (see Tax Questions to Check).

Vehicles: CONUS vs OCONUS

Vehicle entitlements depend on where you're going. For moves to, from or between overseas locations, Military OneSource notes that only one POV owned or leased for personal use may be shipped at government expense. For a move within the continental U.S., the cost of moving your vehicles is largely your responsibility, and the military reimburses mileage and some travel costs through the Monetary Allowance in Lieu of Transportation (MALT) when you drive. Limited exceptions exist, so confirm what your orders authorize with your transportation office before you book anything, and start this research early, especially if you have more than one vehicle or are moving overseas.

PCS Moving Budget: DLA, TLE, and Out-of-Pocket Costs

A PCS moving budget keeps your entitlements and your real costs side by side. Reimbursements can arrive after the bills do, so it helps to plan for upfront costs.

Amounts and day limits come from the Joint Travel Regulations, other applicable regulations and service guidance (TLA, for example, has separate rules in the DoD Financial Management Regulation). They also depend on your orders, destination and eligibility, so confirm them with your finance office before you count on them.

PCS Checklist for Kids and Pets: Schools, Child Care, and Pets

School enrollment, child care and pet travel can all take time to arrange. If they apply to your household, start them as soon as you know your destination.

Schools: Start With Your School Liaison

Military OneSource describes school liaisons as the primary point of contact for school-related matters. They help with transitions, special education, youth sponsorship and the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children. Contact your current installation's liaison; they can connect you with the liaison at your next one.

According to the same Military OneSource guide, all 50 states, the District of Columbia and the Department of War Education Activity (DoWEA) participate in the Interstate Compact. It provides that students can be placed using unofficial records while official records transfer (bring a copy to the new school), that students aren't put in a "holding class" during assessment, and that schools work together so a transfer doesn't derail a high schooler's expected graduation.

Then work through the housing side in this order:

1. Ask the gaining liaison about districts in your commuting area.
2. Look at your state's school report card data. Consider several measures and the programs your child needs, not a single headline score.
3. Verify the attendance zone for the exact address with the district's enrollment office before you sign a lease. Third-party boundary maps can be out of date.
4. Ask about application windows. Magnet, charter and choice programs may have earlier deadlines than regular enrollment.

Child Care: Request Early

Military child care can have waitlists, especially in high-demand areas. MilitaryChildCare.com is the DoD's system for searching and requesting military child care. Coast Guard guidance advises families to request care as soon as you know where you will be stationed and your anticipated arrival date, even before orders are issued.

• Request care at the gaining installation once you know your destination; you can update the date if it changes.
• Ask the installation's child and youth programs office about family child care homes and before- and after-school programs.
• If you're also considering civilian providers, ask about their waitlists early.
• Keep immunization records and recent physicals handy, since programs commonly ask for them.

Pet Relocation: Verify, Do Not Assume

Pet rules can come from your destination, your airline and your installation, and they don't always agree. Check each one directly.

• Destination. For moves between U.S. states, USDA APHIS notes that it doesn't regulate interstate pet travel; each destination state sets its own requirements, which may include a health certificate, updated vaccinations, testing or treatments. For overseas moves, APHIS recommends working with a USDA-accredited veterinarian as soon as you decide to travel, because meeting entry requirements takes time. Dogs entering or returning to the U.S. also have CDC dog import requirements.
• Airline. Breed restrictions, crate sizes and seasonal temperature rules can change; confirm when you book.
• Installation. Installation housing may limit breeds or the number of pets. Confirm before you accept a housing offer.

Medical, Dental, and Immunization Records

Request medical, dental and immunization records before you leave your current duty station, since it's usually simpler while you're still nearby.

• Request copies for each family member, including the immunization records schools and child care programs ask for
• Talk to your provider or pharmacy about prescription refills before you travel
• Keep records with you in your own secure folder rather than packing them in the shipment
• Confirm your new clinic or provider has what they need after you arrive

Spouse Employment, Taxes, and Stress During a PCS

Logistics get most of the attention, but careers, taxes and the household's stress level deserve a place on the same timeline.

Spouse Employment Transition

• Licenses and certifications. Under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, service members and spouses who hold a covered professional license and move to another state because of military orders may be able to use that license in the new state after applying to its licensing authority, with conditions and exceptions (for example, for licenses covered by an interstate compact). See the Department of Justice license portability page and contact the gaining state's licensing board early.
• Remote work. If the role can be done remotely, ask about that arrangement early and get it in writing.
• Federal jobs. Certain military spouses may be eligible for noncompetitive appointment to federal positions. Eligibility doesn't guarantee a job, and agencies decide whether to use the authority. Set job alerts for the gaining area.

Tax Questions to Check

A move on orders doesn't automatically change your state of legal residence. Military OneSource explains that military spouses may have three options for state income tax residency: the service member's residence or domicile, the spouse's residence or domicile, or the service member's permanent duty station. Which fits depends on your family, your states and the type of income.

For moving payments, the tax treatment depends on the type of payment. IRS Publication 3 lists items that aren't included in income: the value of moving and storage services the government provides because of a PCS, and amounts received as a dislocation allowance (DLA), temporary lodging expense, temporary lodging allowance or move-in housing allowance. For other moving reimbursements or allowances, Publication 3 explains that an amount above your actual moving expenses is generally included in income.

A PPM payment is handled separately from those excluded allowances. The part of a PPM incentive above your eligible, documented PPM expenses is generally taxable, so keep your PPM receipts and look for any separate travel tax statement from your finance office when you file.

Check that the state of legal residence in your pay records is correct, update withholding if anything changes, and keep a copy of your orders with your tax records.

Tax situations vary by family and state. This is educational information, not tax advice; confirm your situation with your installation legal assistance office, your finance office or a qualified tax professional.

Relocation Stress

Relocation stress can build over weeks and affect every member of the household differently. A few things can help:

• Before the move: give everyone a role. Children who pack a box of their own or help plan their new room may feel more settled about a move they didn't choose.
• During the move: keep one routine, like bedtime or a shared meal, the same wherever you're staying.
• After arrival: expect a settling-in period. If you or a family member are struggling, talk to a school counselor, your health care provider, or Military OneSource, which offers free, confidential short-term counseling.

Sharing the work helps too. In Palmer PCS Progression, you can invite your household into the same plan and assign tasks; the Divide & Conquer view is a clear way to share the moving load, and Overwhelm Mode is a calm reset that brings the next step back into view when everything feels urgent.

Housing, Lodging, and Lease Termination

Housing shapes a large part of your PCS budget and daily life. On-installation housing and off-installation housing each have trade-offs, such as waitlists, commute, utilities and school zones. Compare those for each option, along with your housing allowance at the new location, before deciding.

Ending a Lease Early Under the SCRA

Lease termination is a legal protection, not a moving allowance. Under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, the Department of Justice explains that you may be able to end a residential lease early without penalty when the home is occupied (or intended to be occupied) by the service member or their dependents and one of these applies:

• The lease was signed before the service member entered military service, or
• The lease was signed during military service and the service member then receives PCS orders, or deployment orders for at least 90 days.

Key steps from DOJ and Military OneSource's lease termination guide:

• Give your landlord written notice with a copy of your orders (or a letter from your commanding officer).
• Use a delivery method you can document. Options described by these sources include hand delivery, mail with return receipt requested, a private carrier such as FedEx or UPS, and, per DOJ, electronic delivery. Ask legal assistance which method fits your situation.
• For a lease with monthly rent, termination generally takes effect 30 days after the next rent payment is due following proper notice.
• Check your lease for any SCRA waiver you may have signed.

Questions about your specific lease belong with your installation legal assistance office.

Conclusion: A Plan You Can Update When Your Dates Change

Orders change. Report dates shift, housing plans change, and shipment dates move. A PCS plan works best when it's easy to update: keep your official deadlines, the dates your moving company and offices confirm, and your own planning targets clearly separated, and revisit them whenever something changes.

Palmer PCS Progression is an independent PCS planning workspace built around that idea. You enter your move details in My PCS Profile. When an order or report date changes, you update it there, and Auto Due Dates and Priority reorganize the relevant tasks around the new timing. These changes apply to your planning tasks; they do not change official deadlines, orders, reservations or moving-company bookings. It isn't an official military resource, so you'll still verify requirements, entitlements and deadlines with the right military office. If that sounds helpful, you can try the sample plan.

More PCS help: Military OneSource PCS and moving support