A refund review has two questions: the legal basis for seeking repayment and the calculation of the amount. A detailed ledger cannot replace the first, but can expose unsupported deductions, duplicate charges and unused funds. Start with payments, then connect each claimed cost to an agreement, performance and evidence. “Non-refundable” and “already spent” are propositions to examine, not final answers in every case. The method below produces a transparent negotiating position without promising a particular refund or treating programme disappointment as proof of a debt.
Legal support for this matter: Civil Debt Recovery
1. Identify the refund basis before doing arithmetic
First identify why repayment is sought: an agreed refund condition occurred, withdrawal was exercised, a payment was duplicated or the basis for retaining a particular amount is challenged. Combining these cases makes a ledger confusing. Civil Code Article 352 concerns consequences of withdrawal, while Article 976 addresses defined unjust-enrichment situations. Their application and limits depend on the facts; making a payment alone does not establish a full-refund entitlement.
State the main legal position in the working file and any genuinely available alternative separately. Enforcing a contractual promise and challenging retention without a legal basis may need different arguments. A lawyer should determine how they relate. Accounting is useful under either route, but is not a court determination. Mark from the beginning which figures are verified, which come only from the agency's statement and which remain unanswered. This prevents provisional assumptions becoming asserted facts in a demand.
Official sources: Civil Code of Georgia
2. Reconcile every incoming payment
List date, amount, currency, sender, recipient, purpose and proof. Record transfers by different relatives separately. Payment to a Chinese intermediary and receipt by a Georgian company are not the same ledger entry unless the onward movement is established. Seek transfer records, acknowledgement and allocation to the account. A common brand name does not erase the distinction between legal entities.
For cash, retain the receipt and context. Withdrawing cash from a bank does not alone establish delivery to the supplier. Compare the named recipient, amount and purpose on the receipt. Civil Code Articles 429–430 concern confirmation of performance, but missing paperwork still requires assessment of the wider evidence. Do not create a backdated document. Mark the gap and ask the appropriate person for an accurate present confirmation of the historical receipt. Preserve that confirmation's real creation date rather than disguising it as contemporaneous proof.
Official sources: Civil Code of Georgia
3. Separate different kinds of money
Do not combine service remuneration, advances for expenses, security and earnest money into one undifferentiated category. Everyday translations may use one word despite different legal consequences. Earnest money under Civil Code Articles 421–423 is a specific concept; the English word “deposit” or a broad Chinese label does not automatically establish that classification. Examine the text, purpose and actual agreement.
Give each payment a provisional category and an unresolved question where necessary. If an agency later calls an expense advance an irreversible commission, ask for the clause and when it was agreed. Relabelling is not automatically unlawful, but the new name is not enough to justify retention either. Show the reviewer the original invoice and later explanation. A mistaken translation of one financial term can change the logic of the entire refund calculation, so compare material terminology in both languages before making categorical demands.
Official sources: Civil Code of Georgia
4. Give each proposed deduction its own line
For each deduction, record description, date, supplier, contractual basis, gross amount, credit received or expected and proposed net deduction. Add status: paid, committed but unpaid, or merely estimated. These require different evidence. A quotation is not a receipt for completed work, while an unpaid invoice does not always prove that no liability was incurred.
Reference supporting document numbers. If one record covers several items, explain the allocation. If a cost covers several customers, request the allocation to your file without demanding other people's personal details. The task does not necessarily require the provider's entire business accounts or all patient files. It requires enough information for your calculation to be checked by another person. Keep an explicit “not yet evidenced” category so lack of documentation is not silently converted either into acceptance or into a claim that the expense never existed.
Official sources: Civil Procedure Code of Georgia
5. Distinguish earned fees from reimbursable expenses
An agency's remuneration and a payment to an outside supplier are different categories. An agreed fee is not always limited to the provider's own out-of-pocket cost. Equally, calling something a third-party expense does not justify deducting the agency's entire margin under that label. Determine whether the agreement sets a fixed fee, reimbursement of actual expenses, or both. The accounting method should follow that distinction.
If part of the relationship is legally a mandate, Civil Code Articles 713 and 720 may matter to reporting and termination. Not every agency activity is automatically a mandate; classification depends on substance. Ask what work was done, what was delivered and how proportionate remuneration was calculated. Staff time records do not settle every fixed-fee dispute, while a general title does not fully describe performance. Avoid forcing every item into a single “cost actually spent” formula where the agreement uses different remuneration models.
Official sources: Civil Code of Georgia
6. Trace cancellations, credits and recoverable advances
A cancelled service may generate a partial or full supplier credit. Request the cancellation notice, supplier reply, credit note and actual refund record. If the agency deducts the original gross cost after receiving a credit, the ledger should show it. Dates matter: the credit may have been outstanding when the first statement was produced and received later.
Separate an irrecoverably lost advance from money for which repayment has merely been requested. Do not count a future refund as certain income, but do not ignore a possible recovery either. Ask who will pursue it, when and how the result will be documented. The parties may negotiate a later reconciliation mechanism, but that mechanism must actually be agreed. Do not accuse the agency of concealing money already received when the evidence establishes only an unresolved claim against a supplier. Mark the uncertainty accurately and schedule follow-up.
Official sources: Civil Procedure Code of Georgia · Civil Code of Georgia
7. Remove duplicates and internal transfers
One expense may appear in a clinic invoice, agency transfer and customer account statement. These are not necessarily three separate costs. Give the underlying transaction one identifier and describe each record's role. Check whether moving money between budget stages has been counted as a new payment. An internal accounting entry does not itself establish external expenditure.
Hypothetically, an agency deducts an initial supplier advance and then adds the full final invoice for the same work. Determine whether the final invoice already credits the advance. Request the supplier balance, not just copies of both bills. Apply the same method when a revised order replaces a cancelled one. “Replacement” and “addition” should have distinct statuses. Do not correct a duplicate by silently deleting a row: retain the reason for the adjustment so another reviewer can follow changes between ledger versions and avoid reintroducing the same error.
Official sources: Civil Procedure Code of Georgia
8. Examine a non-refundable deduction
“Non-refundable” may describe earned remuneration, an agreed cancellation charge, a penalty or an earnest-money consequence. Ask the provider to identify the basis. Civil Code Articles 342–346 may matter to standard terms, and Articles 417–420 to penalties. Application depends on classification and facts. A label alone establishes neither universal validity nor universal invalidity.
Preserve the term as presented when contracting. Record accessibility, accompanying explanations and individual negotiation. If a percentage deduction is claimed, request its base and check overlap with other charges. Actual-expense and penalty claims are not always evaluated using identical proof. The possibility of judicial reduction of an excessive penalty does not mean the deduction automatically becomes zero. Assess the demand realistically using these distinctions, and avoid declaring an entire clause void solely because its financial result is disappointing to the customer.
Official sources: Civil Code of Georgia
9. Use a transparent hypothetical calculation
Consider a purely illustrative example using neutral money units. The customer paid 30,000. The agency proposes deductions of 12,500 and repayment of 17,500. The customer currently accepts the basis for 9,000, while documents for 3,500 are missing. A working position might request 21,000 while the disputed 3,500 is examined separately. That does not mean a court must award that amount.
These are not market prices, an actual case or a legal formula for every package. The purpose is to expose the difference. If a later record establishes a 1,000 supplier credit, identify the original expense it reduces. Do not add it again if already included in the ledger. Date each version and retain the previous calculation. Negotiators should be able to see why the requested figure changed, what has become verified and which position remains provisional.
Official sources: Civil Code of Georgia · Civil Procedure Code of Georgia
10. Resolve currency and the proper refund recipient
A service paid in renminbi, quoted in dollars and recorded in lari can generate three different figures. Preserve each currency amount and the basis for conversion. Today's preferred exchange rate does not automatically become the contractual refund rate. Calculate bank charges separately and check their agreed allocation. A demand should identify both the amount and currency requested, with an explanation.
Naming the original sender as recipient may be insufficient if someone paid on another's behalf or the repayment right belongs elsewhere. Identify contractual party, payer and authorised claimant. Check the relevant banks' requirements for a return transfer involving China. This guide does not provide a universal foreign-exchange permission. Do not request a fictitious payment purpose, artificial splitting or use of another person's account merely to avoid scrutiny. A workable refund arrangement needs accurate documentation as well as agreement on the number.
Official sources: Law of Georgia on Private International Law · Civil Code of Georgia
11. Request evidence without demanding unrelated files
List specific missing records and explain which line each tests. A commencement date may establish performance status, while a credit note tests net expenditure. Request redaction of unrelated personal information where it does not prevent verification. An unredacted full copy is not invariably needed; a document hiding the amount and supplier, however, may no longer answer the question.
Civil Procedure Code Article 103 addresses court assistance in obtaining evidence that a party cannot obtain directly. It requires assessment of an appropriate application, not an assumption that a private letter opens every file immediately. Preserve requests and refusals. If no record is supplied, mark “not produced” rather than “does not exist”. The distinction is accurate and protects credibility in negotiations or proceedings. It also helps the reviewer identify whether the next step is a narrower request, translation, verification with an authorised source or a procedural application.
Official sources: Civil Procedure Code of Georgia
12. Keep repayment separate from additional loss
Repayment of fees, extra travel expense and non-pecuniary damage are not one calculation. Each may require different legal grounds, causation and evidence. Keep the core refund ledger separate from a schedule of additional losses. Every hotel night is not automatically attributable to the agency dispute. Explain why a particular expense resulted from the alleged conduct and what alternatives were available.
Consider collection as well. Even an admitted or adjudicated sum does not automatically arrive in the account. Article 2 of the Enforcement Proceedings Law identifies enforceable instruments; an ordinary private spreadsheet is not one by itself. If settlement becomes possible, assess timing and payment mechanics as well as amount. Review release wording separately. A well-supported ledger can still be undermined by signing a settlement that unintentionally closes unresolved matters before its payment obligations have been properly addressed.
Official sources: Civil Code of Georgia · Law of Georgia on Enforcement Proceedings
13. Plan records and service continuity alongside accounting
Closing the accounting does not close every operational task. List records you are lawfully entitled to receive and identify who holds originals. If another representative takes over, specify responsibility, acknowledgement and pending dates. Do not leave essential care or registration-related work unattended merely while the refund figure is negotiated. Authority for each action still needs to be checked independently.
You can send Advokato a short financial overview and request classification of deductions. The first contact needs the amount, currency, status of the relationship and important deadline, rather than public disclosure of a child's identity or genetic information. After agreeing an appropriate transfer channel, the ledger, proposed demand and possible settlement terms can be reviewed together. This guide prepares that work; even a favourable financial assessment cannot determine parentage, nationality or border-crossing questions.
Official sources: Civil Procedure Code of Georgia · Law of Georgia on Private International Law
Important noteThis material is general information, not personalised legal advice. Recheck current law, official practice, fees and deadlines against your facts before acting.