Understand the age issue and the relevant payment terms before treating a family budget as settled. The initial processing fee is described as nonrefundable.
Connect spending to the unresolved question
Ask what advice can be obtained before the next commitment and whether the proposed quote includes the child’s individual review. Do not interpret paying a child’s proposed charges as confirmation that the age issue has been accepted or that money can automatically be recovered if plans change. Decide what the household will spend before the age question is answered, and keep it to what buys information.
The initial processing fee is described as nonrefundable, so a payment made while a central question is open may not be recoverable if the family changes course. Ask what advice can be obtained before the next commitment falls due and whether the quoted scope includes the child individual review, since that review is the item most often assumed and least often specified. Paying charges proposed for a child confirms neither that the age issue has been accepted nor that the money can be recovered.
Hold the reversible decisions open until the assessment exists, and ask which payments carry a genuine deadline and which are simply being pressed. Keep a written note of what each payment was understood to secure.