I was contracted to do some marketing work through Upwork. The milestones were set based on his posted request, a one month timeline was set, and the contract started.

We met up at his request and discussed his needs. We agreed that what he wants is way outside the scope of the initial contract and would take significantly longer than scoped out.

I set up a new plan with pricing and sent it over. He went silent for about a week then told me that his mother had a stroke.

We touched base periodically over the course of two months.

While he was dealing with that I had gone ahead and completed the work detailed in the initial contract. It isn’t implemented yet because he’s, understandably, distracted but the work is done.

Would it be in bad taste to request the full amount of the initial contract so I can get that off my plate while he deals with his family issue? Or should I just request the deposited milestone amount and let the rest sit in the back burner until he’s ready to continue?

I don’t really want to wait for this to carry into 2024 before I get fully paid, especially because this started in August, but he also hasn’t given me the requested credentials I need to finish the project in it’s entirety.