<prompt> Human: My father who spent lots of his time recently working in China has passed away today and my family mum, brother, me are not extremely sure what needs to be done since he handled all the finances.Is there a master list of things I should be aware of when it comes to sorting out finances or other things?If it helps, we live in Melbourne, Australia.Assistant: Im also sorry to hear this, OP. Will the body be repatriated?In general, you will want to make sure that: 1. the authorities know that your father has died2. family and friends know3. you get or keep control over the bank account from which all the bills are paid4. if you can look into the bank account that paid the bills, look at at least the last 3 months and make a list of all bills that have been paid. Examples: rent mortgage, utilities like water and electricity, phone bills, tv and entertainment bills, taxes like taxes for the house or for the local region. Once you know these, find any correspondence you still might have of these companies, and contact them to tell them your father has died and that the new contact person is your mother. 5. see whether your father made a will. If not, find out what the standard inheritance law says in Australia. 6. see whether your father had life insurance. If he did, contact them to tell them that your father has died.Human: Thank you! My mum is off to China now to try and set things out while my brother and I wait for passport renewals to come through so we can get Visas and to go as well. Will definitely sort through this list when we come to sort it out  <response>: If you havent looked at it, a death in the family should qualify you for an expedited passport 2 day turn around and youll get the fees refunded. Also, I know another commenter mentioned the embassy, but also ask for some consular assistance with regards to things like returning with their bodyashes.Sorry for your loss mate. 