Beta-decay is so much more than just a half-life. A detailed model of beta-decay will provide transition rates to individual daughter states. Not all daughter states (levels) are reached in beta decay; selection rules only allow decay to a subset of states. To accurately model such features it is necessary that the underlying single-particle model describes level structure properly. We will present the essential aspects of our beta-decay model and illustrate how it allows the detailed interpretation of recent large-scale RIKEN beta half-life measurements, its use in r-process modeling, and neutron-star weak interaction networks and the conclusions we can draw about what is powering X-ray bursts.