TDawber,
My sympathies on the difficult situation you are in!

You will definitely need to pay income taxes on your distribution - there's no question about that. As a retirement account withdrawal, you cannot avoid income taxes.

However, it appears from these details that you will likely be able to avoid the early withdrawal penalty, given the disability situation of your husband.

You should provide any material that Edward Jones requires to affirm that:
1) Your husband is totally disabled (as indicated by being approved for Social Security) and your doctor's note;
2) That the disability started back in October of 2007, before the withdrawal occurred (which #1 should also indicate); and
3) That you intended for the withdrawal to be eligible for the penalty exception due to disability.

If Edward Jones has classified the distribution as being disability-related, you should see it indicated on your Form 1099-R. Look to Box 7 on the form, and see whether it either has the number '2' ("Early distribution, exception applies") or '3' ("Disability"). If Box 7 indicates a code of '2' or '3', the IRS will not be expecting a penalty payment. If the Box 7 code is '1' (Early distribution, no known exception), then you can still choose to not pay the early withdrawal penalty due to the disability exception, but you will probably want to attach information to your tax return to indicate the reason that you are not paying the penalty, and you may receive a follow-up inquiry from the IRS where you will need to explain the situation to confirm that the penalty doesn't apply. A good tax preparer should be able to help you with the tax filing details.

I hope that helps a little! Best wishes in these difficult economic times!

who is eligible to receive some stimulus money in 2009? I have a disibility from social security will i be eligible to receive any money? also what about my wife who is not retired and still working?