Indiana will start taking back old food stamp dollars next month. Beginning November 23, 2026, the state says, every SNAP benefit that is at least 274 days old, about nine months, will be removed from the household’s EBT account. Once the money is gone, Indiana says plainly that it will not be put back.
The notice sits at the top of the SNAP page of the Family and Social Services Administration’s Division of Family Resources, which was last updated on October 1, 2026. The state’s wording is short: “Benefits that have been removed (expunged), cannot be replaced.” The page gives no count of affected households and no dollar total.
What 274 days means for a balance
The clock runs on each deposit, not on the card. A month’s benefit that was loaded about nine months before the cutoff is old enough to go, while a deposit from last month is not. A household can therefore lose part of a balance and keep the rest.
The state’s page says the removal happens regardless of whether the card has been used and purchases made. That detail matters because many people assume that swiping the card now and then protects the whole account. According to the notice, a recent purchase does not reset the age of benefits that arrived months ago.
Is any of an Indiana EBT balance old enough to be wiped on November 23? The only way to know is to see the balance and what has been sitting in it, which starts with the state’s EBT website, ConnectEBT, where the division says SNAP balances can be checked. A household that finds a large balance sitting untouched has about a month to spend or plan around it.
What changed this year: Social Security and Medicare change every year, and nobody sends you a memo. The Retirement Money Brief breaks down what changed and what to do. Bonus when you subscribe: our SNAP Recertification & EBT Checklist.
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Why balances pile up on EBT cards
Some households let benefits build for good reasons. Older people on a small monthly benefit may buy only what they need and leave the rest. Others save the balance for a trip to a store that is hard to reach, or lose track of a card that sits in a drawer after a hospital stay.
Indiana’s rule turns that cushion into a date. The state has not said how many households hold benefits that old, so it is unclear how many will see a drop on November 23. What it does say is that nothing can be restored after the removal, and that is the line that matters for anyone with a balance that has not moved.
Who to call before November 23
The division lists several ways to reach someone. Customer service for a lost or damaged card is 1-877-768-5098. Questions about a case, an appeal or an application go to the local Division of Family Resources office in the household’s county or to 800-403-0864, and the State Information Center takes calls at 1-800-457-8283 or texts at 1-888-311-1846.
Other rules on the same page do not change with the expungement. The asset limit is $3,000 for a household without an elderly or disabled member and $4,750 for a household with a member who is 60 or older or disabled. A household that is also waiting on a renewal should keep its recertification date in view, because a closed case ends deposits that would otherwise land each month.
What the state has not explained
The notice does not describe how a household can protect an older balance short of spending it. It also does not say whether a county office can look up the date a specific deposit was issued. Anyone with a large, old balance can put that question to the division’s phone lines before the removal begins.
For now the state’s message is the date and the finality: November 23, 274 days, no replacement. Whether a household’s oldest deposits fall inside that window is the question to settle while the balance is still there.
Will an Indiana EBT balance survive November 23?
Indiana says benefits removed on November 23 cannot be replaced, so an old balance that goes unnoticed is simply gone. A household that also misses a recertification or a change report can lose the deposits that would have come next.
The SNAP & Medicaid Renewal Organizer pairs a renewal and reporting calendar with 51 state packs, including one for Indiana, so the dates that protect a household’s benefits sit in one place. Its section on reporting changes and EBT problems walks through what to do when a card or balance looks wrong.
Get the SNAP renewal organizer’s Indiana date calendar before the November 23 removal →
More Financial Reading
- 21 Ways to Stretch a $2,087 Social Security Check
- 15 Places to Find Your Share of the $4.25 Billion States Give Back
- 15 Ways Retirees Are Tapping a Record $14.9 Trillion in Home Equity
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
