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| Alexandar Pavlov |
I was introduced by a community organization to Esther (not her real name) last winter when she became unhoused and was sleeping in her car while trying to find an adequately lit parking spot where she’d feel safe in downtown Kitchener. The organization, which tries to help prevent homelessness, reached out and asked me for help with her case.
In this article, I will share Esther’s story and the exceptional challenges she faced after her partner’s passing. Her story sheds light on the intersection between cultural norms, legal rights and social support, and also the crisis in access to justice in Canada and the unaffordability of legal services to vulnerable people.
Esther was in a common-law relationship with Ian (also not his real name), an older Canadian man, for eight years. He became deeply interested in her religion, visited the local mosque and converted to Islam. Esther took care of the house, shared the household expenses, paid bills and did renovations with her money. Esther was appointed as an estate trustee in Ian’s will and was confident knowing that she would be able to live in the house. Ian had a great relationship with Esther’s children.
Esther’s life took an unexpected turn when her partner passed away. The shock and emotional toll left her struggling with anxiety, depression and uncertainty. Despite assurances from her husband that the house would be hers, life began to unravel in a challenging way. Ian’s stepchildren acted against her inclusion in his will and forced her out of their shared home. They obtained a court order, and she wasn’t able to defend herself successfully because her lawyer didn’t defend her well. The court session was on Zoom, and Esther was not able to understand the complicated terminology and legalese. She was not even allowed to speak. Her personal status as a woman of colour and a Muslim wearing a hijab put her in an underprivileged position. Ian’s stepchildren took her valuable belongings, and she never got them back.
Esther ended up living in her car in January. Then she lost her job because she was not able to work efficiently being unhoused. She tried to get housing in a women’s shelter but was denied because she was not considered a victim of intimate partner violence. She decided not to look for housing in shelters where the environment is unsafe and the use of drugs is common.
Esther’s difficulties deepened. Her lawyer fired her but demanded payment for photocopies and printed materials. According to Esther, he didn’t perform his work with due diligence and didn’t consider her limited knowledge of legal terminology.
Esther needed a lawyer able to navigate her through the complicated Canadian legal system. She was struggling emotionally and especially financially. I reached out to many lawyers in my network, but none of them expressed willingness to take the case on a contingency fee. Legal Aid didn't help because her case was in estate law. Finally, one prominent lawyer agreed to meet her. He briefly discussed the case with her but was not patient and diplomatic. (I was present.) He asked questions that were insulting and inappropriate. How can an unhoused person hold a job? Where will she shower, change, store her belongings, etc.? Can she be expected to have her personal affairs in order when she is suffering from anxiety and insecurity? He did, however, make the effort to discuss the case with the lawyer of the opposite party. In the end, he decided not to take the case on a contingency fee.
Esther didn’t have the money to hire a lawyer or even to pay for a consultation that could open the door to resolving the case. These setbacks didn’t discourage me from continuing my efforts to assist Esther with decent and adequate legal information help. I made multiple phone calls to different lawyers and some of them were very sympathetic to Esther’s situation, but they didn’t take the case given her financial situation.
Because I am passionate about assisting vulnerable people with finding legal information suitable to their needs, I reached out through my network, sending multiple emails and, finally, my efforts were rewarded. I met with a young lawyer, originally from Nigeria, who became interested in the case. After a few meetings, he agreed to take Esther’s estate law court case on a contingency basis.
This is an achievement to be celebrated! However, a huge problem remains: The lack of affordability of legal services for a huge segment of the population. Esther and I developed a special friendship that inspired me to write this story. Hopefully, it can contribute to the profound change in the legal industry that is needed, so everyone will have access to justice — a human right.
Alexandar Pavlov is a supportive housing worker in transitional housing in Kitchener, Ont. Before immigrating to Canada in 2015, he graduated with a master of law degree from Sofia University and became a lawyer in 1994. Between 1998 and 2014 he was a notary public in Bulgaria. He is currently working on a project about providing legal information to marginalized people and helping them practise peer-to-peer training.
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