
Civil Law · Ontario, Canada
Lawyer · Donovan Kochman LLP · Toronto
She started out at a full-service law firm on Bay Street. As a young mother, Sharon made the decision to become a sole practitioner, continuing to focus on estate planning and administration, as well as estate litigation. Having built a successful sole practice, she considered her own succession and contingency planning, and seized on the opportunity to join Donovan Kochman LLP.
Sharon was educated at the University of Toronto (B.Sc. Psych. 1982) and Osgoode Hall Law School of York University (LL.B. 1986). She successfully completed the Canadian Securities Course and Canadian Investment Finance with the Canadian Securities Institute.
Sharon is a past member of the Executive of the Ontario Bar Association Trusts & Estates Section and a former instructor in the Estate Planning section of the Law Society of Upper Canada’s Bar Admission Course over a number of years. She contributed extensively as chairperson and speaker to continuing professional development programs for both the Law Society and the Ontario Bar Association.
Sharon has spoken for charitable organizations, and at conferences hosted by private conference developers, on various subjects related to her area of practice including charitable giving, elder law, probate and tax planning, variations of trust and the law of mental incapacity. Sharon has also developed and conducted seminars for executives and trust officers of several major North American financial institutions.
Sharon has appeared on television to discuss wills, powers of attorney and estate planning, and has co-authored a paper for the Estates, Trusts & Pensions Journal entitled “ The Vacation Property: How (Not) to Avoid Probate Taxes on Death ”.
Finally, Sharon participated in early efforts to create computer software for the drafting of wills, powers of attorney and related documents and to assist in the efficient administration of estates.