AKRON, Ohio — While movers carried furniture and boxes out of her family's home in Hudson, Ohio, Kate Baker looked wearily at her 4- and 5-year-old sons wrestling in the middle of the living room floor.

They had spent the morning playing hide-and-go-seek behind stacks of boxes and now needed a more physical outlet for their excitement about moving to a city 10 hours away near the Atlantic Coast.

Kate Baker's husband, Ron, recently took a job with Perdue Chicken in Salisbury, Md., and without the generous relocation package the company had offered, Kate said, she never would have been able to handle all the costs and details — especially since her husband had moved a month earlier, leaving Kate behind to make final arrangements.

"Declan, get off your brother!" she said, in between instructions to the movers. Then, "I'd think twice about it before I'd move without the relocation package."

Relocating involves many of the most stressful events that occur in life. It's crucial to negotiate the best package for yourself and your family to minimize the financial and emotional stress of moving.

Most larger companies will have some kind of formal relocation package. Common elements may include moving of household goods, temporary housing and house-hunting trips.

The Bakers were able to make two house-hunting trips to Maryland and will have temporary housing until their new home is built.

Many companies have a tiered policy, based on experience, said Joseph Benevides, senior vice president of Paragon Global Resources Inc., which helps companies around the world develop their relocation packages.

You should do a little research before sitting down to negotiate, said Tony Lee, publisher of CareerJournal.com, an executive career Web site affiliated with the Wall Street Journal. Get estimates from several moving companies, ask friends or associates at other companies what their relocation policy is and know what you personally need to make the move worth it.

But be careful of broaching the subject too soon, Lee warned.

"Don't bring it up before you've received the offer," he said. "And if they bring it up before the offer, you've got to do your best not to commit."

The most important, and usually most costly, element of relocation is the sale of your home.

While it is rare nowadays for companies to buy a transferee's home, it is common for them to pay closing costs and real-estate agency fees, said Anita Brienza of Worldwide ERC, a global organization of companies that regularly relocates employees.

Most companies will reimburse all the costs — aside from your mortgage payments, of course — associated with the purchase of the home at the destination location, Brienza said. But that may also depend on your job level and homeowner status.

You should ask about a "miscellaneous allowance," formerly referred to as a current allowance, to cover other expenses associated with moving, said Wayne Voris, vice president of the professional services division for Spherion Corp., a national recruitment and staffing company. This money is often used to pay for hooking up utilities and cover incidental costs incurred from the move.

Although it's typically equal to one or two months' salary, this is where doing research can help if you are relocating for a smaller company. Knowing some numbers up front may make the company more likely to include this allowance.