The legal position concerning the trustee’s limited power to act before probate is clearly expressed in the ninth edition of Nevil's Law of Trusts "ISBN 0408714778" at page 462 [19.2] as follows;

" For instance, the executor can commence an action although probate must be obtained before the date of hearing. In fact the executor can do anything that could be done after probate, up to the point where someone with whom he or she is dealing requires proof of title. Then he or she must obtain probate Thus if a debtor refuses to pay his or her debt to an executor acting without a grant of probate, the Court will stay proceedings until the grant is obtained."

The refusal to answer this request has been referred to the Office of the Ombudsman.

The question in my view cannot be considered frivolous. It concerns the legal policy adopted by the assignee in the administration of deceased estates and its in the public interest to know with certainty what their policy is. There is a simple yes or no answer to this question.