Charles Cole was born in El Dorado, Kansas on November 30, 1947. After graduating from high school in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, Mr. Cole attended the University of Oklahoma and received a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering in 1970. He was awarded his Juris Doctor degree from the same institution in 1973.
While in law school, Mr. Cole was a member of the Oklahoma Law Review and served as Case Note Editor. He graduated as a member of the Order of the Coif, a legal honorary society.
Since moving to Wichita in 1973, Mr. Cole has centered his practice in the field of estate planning. He assists clients in establishing wills and revocable trusts and various other phases of complex estate planning. Often this includes business succession planning and the creation of business entities such as family limited partnerships, corporations and limited liability companies.
For several years, Mr. Cole was course instructor for the American College Estate Planning Course, offered through Kansas Newman University, to practicing attorneys, trust officers, CPAs and CLUs. He has made presentations on estate planning topics and legal ethics to numerous professional and civic groups, including the Kansas Bar Association, the Wichita Bar Association, the Kansas Chapter of AICPAs, the Wichita Estate Planning Council and the Wichita Independent Businessmen's Association. Mr. Cole is a regular participant in the Fleeson, Gooing, Coulson & Kitch, LLC Estate Planning Symposium.
In 1992, Mr. Cole became a fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel. He is recognized in the publication The Best Lawyers in America in the areas of Trusts and Estates, and in "Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers" in the areas of Estate Planning and Probate.
Mr. Cole is a member of the Wichita Bar Association, the Kansas Bar Association and the Wichita Estate Planning Council, and was a charter member of the Wichita Estate Planning Forum. He is past chair of the Probate Practice Section of the Wichita Bar.
Mr. Cole and his wife, Janice, have two grown sons.
