District Court (Fifth District : Beaver County) Probate record books, 1897-1997.

Probate record books are a daily record of what documents were filed in court on a particular day. They contain details of the proceedings in estate cases. Personal name change cases may also appear. For deceased persons, the will, appraisals and inventories, and the settlements are recorded. For guardianships the appointment of a guardian and frequently an account of some property are noted. Adoption records give the full order of the adoption, often with statements from both the natural and adoptive parents or a social service agency detailing circumstances of the adoption.

Though no longer produced these record books provide useful information both for researchers seeking socioeconomic data on households and those seeking biographical or family history data such as information about the estate, the deceased, and the heirs. As with the minutes, access to the record books is easiest when done in conjunction with the register of actions, which provides the date of each action.