With a more than 50-year career practicing law in Tennessee and eight other states, it’s safe to say Charles Kite has seen some exciting things and been involved in more than his fair share of legal matters. His infinite wisdom on wills, trusts, durable powers of attorney, estate planning, business sales and acquisitions and so much more serves his clients well in his close “Of Counsel” relationship with Miser Wealth Partners.
Charlie’s experiences throughout his expansive career intertwine to weave quite a fascinating story. That story began when Charlie was born in an army hospital in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, in 1944 at the height of WWII. As a production site for the Manhattan Project, Oak Ridge was bustling with activity at that time.
Charlie’s father, Harvey Kite, had a front-row seat as a chemist at the Y-12 plant. As Charlie remembers, his father was one of the very few people in the city’s history to be interviewed one day and started working on-site the next. That was in January 1944 when Harvey was only 22 years old. Many years later, he would eventually become a head of the research and development division for Y-12.
When Charlie was born, Oak Ridge had quite a different feel than today, mainly because it was at least four times the current population.
“It was an interesting place to grow up,” Charlie remembers. “Everybody was from someplace else. It was just a different world. The town had a two-layer fence around it and secure points of entry gates that were constantly patrolled by the military and at all points of entry. To go in and out of town, you had to have a photo ID badge if you were 12 or older. I remember the gates going towards Clinton. Every car had to stop and get inspected going in and out.” The gates came down in late 1947 or early 1948, but Charlie still remembers them vividly.
Charlie would go on to attend Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, based on his dreams of becoming a neurosurgeon at the school’s top-notch medical college. But after the first year, his father persuaded him to consider other schools due to the expense. Charlie then attended Carson-Newman College (Now known as Carson-Newman University) in Jefferson City from which he graduated. After graduating, Charlie entered law school at the University of Tennessee.
But things would soon take a bit of a different direction yet again. Charlie recalls a national shortage of physics and advanced math high school teachers at the height of the Vietnam War. Having graduated from Carson-Newman with majors in political science and mathematics, and minors in history, chemistry, and biology, he was able to fill one of those needed positions in a local school system.
Charlie subsequently reenrolled at the University of Tennessee and finished Law School. After graduating in 1973 and passing the bar exam, Charlie officially started his law career by joining the Regional Office of the Office of Chief Counsel of the Internal Revenue Service in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. There, he remained for several years until he packed his bags and transferred to the District Office of Chief Counsel in Nashville, Tennessee, where he received a quicker-than-normal promotion to senior trial attorney.
After ten years with the Office of Chief Counsel, as a senior trial attorney, Charlie made another career move and joined Heiskell Donelson (now Baker Donelson), when the firm opened a new office in Knoxville in 1983.
A couple of years later, he was contacted by an executor of an estate in Sevierville who was encountering issues surrounding the family land, and particularly who had to pay the inheritance taxes due the IRS and the State of Tennessee. The executor’s son knew of Charlie through a mutual law school friend, so when the case kept running into roadblocks, Charlie’s name came up as a potential means of help. Charlie agreed to take on the case and won, which soon led to a job offer at a Sevier County firm.
It was through that firm that Charlie eventually became professionally involved in some very big East Tennessee names in the mid-to-late 1980’s and 1990’s.
The 1990’s also brought forth another exciting project that would cross Charlie’s path with that of Derek Miser, who had big dreams of opening a huge music arena in Sevier County.
“I met Derek in 1991. We optioned about 4,500 acres along the French Broad River for Derek to build a music park,” he said. “He was just a young man putting tremendous work into this park.”
Throughout the years, the communication lines with Derek remained open. They would eventually create a pathway to where Charlie is today – providing valuable direction for clients that often pair perfectly with Derek’s offerings.
“Derek is a financial planner, and a lot of dealings with financial planning that many firms don’t get into is that most of these people not only need financial direction, but they need legal direction as well, such as wills, powers of attorney, and trusts,” Charlie said. “That’s what I do. I’ve been doing it for more than 35 years.”
Charlie takes great pride in helping his clients work through legality weeds to ensure their hard-earned assets end up exactly where they’re meant to and things don’t get tied up in that dreaded red tape. Charlie reiterates that it’s not as cut and dry as many people may think…especially in the case of some heavy spousal decisions.
“If someone becomes disabled and their spouse doesn’t have a durable power of attorney, they can’t make decisions legally,” he said. “If you get sick and can’t make medical decisions for yourself, a lot of people think your spouse can do it, but that’s not true. They must have a durable power of attorney, which is different from a regular power of attorney.
Yet another legal aspect important to many people is ensuring their final wishes are carried out accordingly, which is where Charlie’s expertise on wills and trusts comes in handy.
“A will and/or a trust are important because it lets you give away your assets the way you want to give them away,” he explains. “If you don’t have a will or a trust, your assets will go to various people according to state law, which may differ from what you want.”
With much of Charlie’s work being based out of Tellico Village, he wants residents to know he’s gained specialized experience thanks to similar professional involvement with an even larger planned retirement community called Fairfield Glade outside Crossville, Tennessee.
“I would say at least 60% of the people in Tellico Village came from another state, much like Fairfield Glade,” he said. “A lot of those people have been there for years and need the kind of help we provide at Miser Wealth Partners.”
When Charlie isn’t helping his clients get all their affairs impeccably in order, his time is generally earmarked for his beloved wife and children, and 19 grandchildren, and for his spare-time, involvement with his three favorite charities, The Dollywood Foundation, Catholic Charities, and St. Mary’s Legacy Clinic.
To learn more about how Charlie can help you, call us at (865) 281-1616 to set up a discovery meeting.
