Series 6241

District Court (Fifth District : Beaver County) Probate case files

Dates: 1856-

27.00 cubic feet and 41 microfilm reels

These records are housed in the Utah State Archives' permanent storage room.

Scope and Content

Probate case files from the Fifth District Court in Beaver County primarily involve the probate of estates for deceased persons and guardianship for minors and incompetent persons. Probate is judicial oversight of property in transition. Probate of estates is the process by which a deceased person's property is identified and maintained, his debts and taxes paid, and then remaining property distributed to beneficiaries as specified in a will or as required by law for persons who die intestate (without a will). In guardianship cases probate is the establishment of a guardian for minors or incompetent adults who hold property that needs management. In addition to probate these case files also include name changes and some adoptions.

Utah's Territorial Assembly established original jurisdiction over the probate of estates and the guardianship of incompetent persons with county probate courts in 1852 (An Act in Relation to the Judiciary. Acts, Resolutions, and Memorials passed by the First Annual, and Special Sessions of the Legislative Assembly. Great Salt Lake City, 1852, Brigham H. Young, Printer. pp. 38-48). That jurisdiction transferred to the probate divisions of District Courts when County Probate Courts were abolished at statehood.

The probate process includes three parts. First, a petitioner must file with the court the documents necessary to have the court appoint a representative. Documents relating to this process include wills, petitions, letters of administration, bonds, etc., and a court order appointing an administrator, executor, or guardian. Second, the appointed representative does all that is necessary to manage the property through the period of transition. Documents filed here might include a court order appointing appraisers, notices to creditors, estate inventories, various kinds of financial statements, receipts, bills, and the court-appointed representative's final report. Finally, when all requirements have been met, such as all bills paid or a minor has become of age, the court mandates a final settlement and releases the representative from any further responsibility.

The Territorial Legislature made provision for formal adoptions in 1884 and assigned jurisdiction to County Probate Courts (Compiled Laws of Utah, vol. II, 1888, part 5, chapter 4). Adoption case files include a formal petition, documents supporting the petition and the court's final decree. In this series adoption case files begin in 1893. Whereas early adoptions were open to the public and sometimes published in the newspaper, adoptions later became private. Most adoption records in this series are closed to public access (see access restrictions note). In addition to probate and adoption, case files this series also include official name changes.

Arrangement

Numerical by case number.

Research Note

It appears that many of the earliest case files in the series contain records that originated in either the Territorial Second District Court or the Beaver County Probate Court. Several of the earliest case files from this series originate prior to 1896 and presumably made their way into this series when final action was eventually taken by the Fifth District Court.

Related Records

Probate record books from the District Court (Fifth District : Beaver County), Series 1053, contains the complete case files cited throughout these record books.

Probate registers of action from the District Court (Fifth District : Beaver County), Series 23866, contains the complete case files cited throughout these record books.

Probate case index from the District Court (Fifth District : Beaver County), Series 26588, contains an alphabetical index which can be used to identify the case file numbers needed to access this series.

Custody History

All case files created between 1896 and 1956 were transferred to the Utah State Archives in 2007. For access to case files post-1956 researchers should contact the clerk of the Fifth District Court in Beaver County.

Additional Forms

This series is available on microfilm.

Access Restrictions

This series is primarily classified as Public. The secondary classification is Exempt: Judicial records are public unless restricted under rules of civil procedure (UCA 63G-2-301-[1][f]). Included are custody proceedings, guardianship files, minutes, & probate records..

Preferred Citation

Cite the Utah State Archives and Records Service, the creating agency name, the series title, and the series number.

Gaps in Series

Cases 67, 99, 110, 129, 154, 168, 174, 188, 197, 201, 203, 223, 238, 248, 283, 346, and 1080 are missing.

Processing Note

This series was archivally processed by Jim Kichas and Emily Gurr in April 2008 as part of a NHPRC grant project designed to preserve the historic records of Utah's Fifth District Courts.

Indexing Terms

Container List

REEL	BOX	DATE	DESCRIPTION
1	1	1894-1899	1-14
2	1	1899-1901	15-25
2	2	1901	26
3	2	1902	27-42
4	2	1902-1908	43-53
4	3	1902-1908	54-63
5	3	1908-1909	64-92
5	4	1908-1909	93-96
6	4	1910-1913	97-122
7	4	1913-1914	123-125
7	5	1913-1914	126-155
8	5	1913-1914	156-172
8	6	1913-1914	173-188
9	6	1915-1917	189-220
10	6	1917	221
10	7	1917-1921	222-240
11	7	1921	241-254
11	8	1921	255-263
12	8	1921-1924	264-289
13	8	1924	290-292
13	9	1924-1925	293-311
14	9	1925-1928	312-329
14	10	1925-1928	330-347
15	10	1928-1929	348-372
15	11	1929	373
16	11	1929-1931	374-397
17	11	1931-1933	398-409
17	12	1931-1933	410-423
18	12	1933	424-427
19	12	1933-1935	428-440
19	13	1933-1935	441-449
20	13	1935	450-462
21	13	1935-1936	463-480
21	14	1935-1936	481-490
22	14	1936-1938	491-527
23	14	1938-1939	528-540
23	15	1938-1939	541-560
24	15	1940	561-591
24	16	1940	592-595
25	16	1940-1942	596-629
26	16	1942-1943	630-636
26	17	1942-1943	637-657
27	17	1943-1944	658-681
28	18	1944-1945	682-709
29	18	1945	710-717
29	19	1945	718-732
30	19	1946	733-756
31	20	1947	757-793
32	20	1947-1948	794-803
32	21	1947-1948	804-828
33	21	1948-1949	829-850
33	22	1948-1949	851-859
34	22	1949	860-891
35	22	1949	892-894
35	23	1949-1950	895-917A
36	23	1950-1951	918-934
36	24	1951-1952	935-946
37	24	1951-1952	947-971
37	25	1951-1952	972-976
38	25	1952-1954	977-1008
39	25	1954-1955	1009-1011
39	26	1954-1955	1012-1049
40	26	1955-1956	1050-1057
40	27	1955-1956	1058-1085
41	27	1956	1086-1089