Can my husband take over the petition for my mother or we need to start over

I started the process of petition my mother on 10/20/2010 and waiting for what to do next, I got a letter of dropping notification because we haven contacted them in a year. I got upset of course, and after talking I sign a form saying that I wish to pursued my visa application. They send me another letter registering me as the agent of my mother. and start on step 2:pay fees., but the company I was working for for 8 years closed it's doors and I don't have a job yet. My question is, can my husband take over from here or we need to start over. He is getting disability payments.