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FXBG Neighbors Podcast
Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast
FXBG Neighbors Podcast
EP #188 Estate Planning Without The Scare
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Probate, taxes, trusts, wills, guardianship, medical decisions: estate planning gets confusing fast, and social media makes it worse. We bring it back to reality with attorney Woodley Fenelus from Whetzel Fenelus Wealth Counsel, who breaks down what estate planning actually does for families in Fredericksburg, Virginia and beyond, without legal jargon or scare tactics.
We talk through one of the biggest misconceptions we hear everywhere: setting up a trust to avoid taxes. Woodley explains why that idea doesn’t hold up, what a trust can do instead (like helping families avoid probate), and why you should be skeptical of influencer-friendly “loopholes.” If you’ve ever wondered whether you need a will, a trust, or both, you’ll leave with a clearer framework and better questions to ask.
The conversation goes deeper than documents. We explore incapacity planning, healthcare decisions, and why estate planning is for everyone, including young adults, single people, and parents who need a kids’ protection plan. Woodley also shares what it’s like building a law firm from scratch and how the right support can keep a business afloat.
If you’re ready to protect your family and make your wishes easy to follow, listen now, then subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review so more neighbors can find the show.
Woodly Fenelus
Whetzel Fenelus Wealth Counsel
wfenelus86@outlook.com
571-720-5195
Welcome And Guest Introduction
SpeakerThis is the Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Dori Stewart.
Speaker 1Welcome back to another episode of the FXBG Neighbors Podcast, where we share the stories of our favorite local brands. I'm excited to introduce you to my guest today. We've got Woodly Fenelus joining us. She is Whetzel Fenelus Wealth Counsel. Woodly, welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 2Thank you for having me, Dori. It was a pleasure to be here and speaking to you.
Speaker 1Well, I'm really excited about this, excited to learn more about you and your business.
What The Wealth Counsel Does
Speaker 1So let's start there. Share with us what is Whetzel Fenelus Wealth Counsel.
Speaker 2So it's a partnership that I started here in Virginia with another Virginia attorney. I am licensed in North Dakota. And so my partner is licensed here in Virginia. And we always kind of wanted to do estate planning because there's such a huge demand for it. So we decided that this would be a good thing. And given that I have my LLM in taxation and estate planning, it was just the right time.
Speaker 1Amazing. So tell me what made you decide to go into this? I'd love to hear a little bit about your backstory and how you got to where you are today.
From Immigration Law To Estates
Speaker 2Right, thank you. Um, so I am originally uh immigration attorney. I kind of immigration kind of fell into my lap. It's not something that I always wanted to do. It just happened. And more I thought I was going to be a criminal lawyer. And then I got a taste of it, and I was like, yeah, no, that's not for me. Um, yeah, and so I um it just happened. Some people at my church needed help with immigration, and then on the fly, I had to figure it out and learn it. And um, I fell in love with it. I loved the results that we were giving people and the ability to, you know, get you know, your green card or win an asylum. And then so I said, you know what, maybe this is what I'm going to do now. Um, but at the same time, I was going to school for my LLM in taxation. I was like, I'm gonna be a tax attorney. So then what do I do with my degree? I love this, you know, what do I do? Uh but I found a way I was like, you know what, I can merge the two together. So I said I'm going to continue with my um as continue as an immigration attorney and help people, especially in like a Haitian um Franco Fun African country um communities. And and then I partner with um, you know, with with actually he's my boss, and then we partnered together and decided that we were gonna do an estate planning, and we've been working
Trusts And The Tax Myth
Speaker 2at it since.
Speaker 1Tell me, what are some myths or misconceptions that you hear about what you do that you can dispel for us?
Speaker 2Uh so many myths, but I think the biggest one is people wanting to create like a trust because they want to avoid taxes, and I'm like, no, the IRS is here forever. Um, you don't create a trust or for purposes of taxation, you really create it because you want to avoid probate, and so it has nothing to do, it has no tax benefit. So that's one of the most common ones, and especially with social media, they're always teaching these um, I don't know, crazy stuff they're telling people they can do when it comes to taxes and how to avoid taxes. And most of it is not even true, but yeah, definitely the most common one is I'm gonna create this trust so I can avoid taxes. Absolutely not.
Speaker 1I'm really glad you said that because I've heard that, you know, uh, and you're right. You hear it on social media, you hear all these, you know, experts sharing information like that. So I imagine, I imagine you're doing that a lot when you're working with your clients.
Speaker 2Oh, absolutely, all the time. I they hear some fake like popular influencers telling them, you can do this for your taxes, and you can create this trust and do an irrevocable trust and do this and all this stuff. And I'm like, no, you cannot. So I get that all the time. Like, I'll have a client that comes to me and says, I heard this on social media, and I'm like, okay, I just have to break it down for them. Um, but part of my platform is dispelling those myths and say, I know you've you've heard your social media influencer say this, but a lot of the times we're not reading into the law and how it's applied. So they might have like one thing or one code they hear and they think it's fits everything. And I'm just like, no, absolutely not. It's it's it's different. You have to dig a little deeper um into the law. So I fight misconceptions all the time.
Speaker 1All the time. Well, it's the law is intimidating and can be confusing
Making Legal Plans Feel Simple
Speaker 1for those who don't understand it, like you. So, how do you work with your clients to kind of put them at ease?
Speaker 2You know, um, basically, I I don't I don't do legalese with my clients because I obviously they don't understand all these legal. I try to break it down in small bytes for them. And um, I'm a visual person, so I like to see things, I like to touch things in a way. So I'll I'll have a really great presentation for my clients to say, hey, this is how you do this, you know, and um, you know, just break it down in like layman's terms for them, nothing too complicated. Most of the time they'll lose your, you know, they're not paying attention about all that stuff anyway. So keep it short and sweet for them. That's it.
Speaker 1I love that. I love that. You're keeping it simple for them and giving them the information that they need to know, need to know in a way that they can understand it.
Speaker 3Exactly, exactly.
Speaker 1Yeah, so what would you say is the
Estate Planning As A Love Letter
Speaker 1most rewarding uh part for you?
Speaker 2I peace of mind. I every time I, you know, I've done a couple of these already, and every time you get to that, you know, signing ceremony where you're handing them this beautiful folder in and there it's a love letter to their family. Um and you see that they feel like this burden kind of you know lift off their shoulders, knowing that when they transition to the next life, they have something for their family. Um, it's beautiful. I I love that. And it's not it's not about death, it's just the most beautiful thing you can do for your family, as opposed to leaving them with probate and years of fighting. You know, right now in Virginia and also North Dakota, there's so many people who've just given up because someone, you know, transitioned without a will or a trust, and then there's property, there's all kinds of bank accounts, and they don't know what to do because it's going to take them more time, more money. So they give up. So then we have all these unclaimed properties and in the court state court, um, probate courts. And you know, when you set up things and you set up your life and you make it easier for your family after you've transitioned, it's the most beautiful thing. And I love seeing families can feeling like they can breathe, you know, and it's also a great way to control beyond the grave. I would say, yeah.
Speaker 1I really love how you framed that, and you said a love letter to your family. So I love how you've turned something that can kind of feel like a topic that you don't want to approach and turn it into something that is love for your family.
Speaker 2It is love, it is, and I always tell my client your will, your the trust you create is absolutely a love letter, your last love letter to your family. And one of the things that we do in our firm is we'll do things like create a video where that family is speaking to them. Well, if you've seen this video, then I'm no longer here. And be able to pour your heart out to that, you know, your family. Um, it's it's it's beautiful. It's I don't even look at it as death, and I and I rarely use the word death. I use words like you're transitioning, you're going to the next life, right? No matter what you believe, your religion, you are transitioning to the next life. And so I never look at it as something that's final, I just see it as you're gone to the next universe or the next world or whatever it is that you believe in. And so that gives them the peace of mind when I'm not giving them it's death and it's final. Um it's it's it's it's such a beautiful part of my work. It's it's I love it. And that's why I probably I'm never I'm not going to leave immigration, but this is the most peaceful side of my practice.
Speaker 1Yeah, yeah. I can tell in the way that you're talking about it that it is what lights you up.
Speaker 2Yes, it really does. I mean, I go to court all the time, I'm always fighting somebody in court, but but with this, there's no fighting. I'm not fighting the government or I'm not fighting somebody else on the other side, you know. Um, it could get to that, but then by the time you get to that point, the family that that family member is gone. Um, but it's just I love the fact that we can sit here and prepare someone. There's no adversary, right? Um, and I always tell people, if you don't have a plan, well, every well, my my thing is everyone has the state planning, right? It's just who did it? Was it the state or is it you? Because the government definitely has a plan for you if you don't have your own plan, and it's called probate, and they decide, and that can go for a year, two, three years, and all your family give up because it costs too much money. Um, I always say that uh not having a trust or will is a lawsuit against yourself,
Why Everyone Needs A Plan
Speaker 2because you have to pay for it, you know. So and going back to one of the things that you talked about with misconceptions is estate planning is for the wealthy. No, it's not. Estate planning is for everyone. Um you're single, if something happens to you, you become incapacitated. Well, who makes decisions for you? Right. Um, if you're a mom and you're driving your car somewhere and an accident happens, something happens, and your little children are in the back seat, the police come. Who do they call? So kids' protection plans are very important for moms and parents. Um, you don't want some weird uncle taking over your kids, you know what I mean? Um, you know, you you want to have a plan for yourself. I mean, everybody needs a plan. You own a home. What happens to this home when you're gone? Who takes the house? You know, who makes healthcare decisions for you? So everybody should have estate planning.
Speaker 1I'm really glad that you said that because I think that there's probably a lot of people, probably a lot of young people who think, I'm, you know, I don't, I don't need that yet. You know, I maybe I don't have a family yet. So do you advise? I mean, is there um a point at which people need to start thinking about this?
Speaker 2Yes, absolutely. Um, you know, I have I have kids protection planned for my children because I don't know what could happen. And I put it, I I I have family members that I do trust. You know, trust is huge. Um, who if if something happens to me, I know my kids are going to be in good hands, you know. And I have people in my kids protection, you can absolutely get nowhere near my children. Um, so those are things that I try to protect um my children against if something were to happen to me, because we don't know at any time, any moment, something can happen. Um, I don't care how old you are, I think you should have some type of protection plan because I give you a brief story. This young lady single, um, she's really into like healthy things, and um, she wants to, you know, if she something were to happen to her, she does not want this um medication, she wants like natural things, and so she ended up being incapacitated, and her mother she didn't have she was in the process of doing it, but then it would it never you know came into fruition. And so her mother ended up shutting everybody out, she's making decisions, things that we already know she did not want, and there's nothing we could do about it because she's incapacitated now. The mom is making decisions for her. Um, so even then, as a young person, 20, 30, whatever age, single, you want to have estate planning. And had she had those things in place, we could have just taken that to the court and said, This is how we're taking that, this is how she wants life, you know, she wants to be peace at peace and she wants to do natural medication, and so it's important to have estate planning no matter what age you are.
Speaker 1Yeah, I'm really glad you shared that. What a great lesson for us all hearing that.
Building A Law Firm From Scratch
Speaker 1Thank you. So tell me, has there been a challenge or a hardship that you faced, whether in life or business, that now that you have overcome it, you're stronger and better for it?
Speaker 2Oh, yeah, absolutely. Um, one of the things I law school doesn't teach you the business side of things, they teach you how to think like a lawyer, but they never teach you how to run a law firm. And so starting my own law firm um was challenging. You know, you had to, I wanted to just practice law. I had no idea that having my own law firm required so much. I had to wear a business woman hat. And I don't have any experience with business at the time and had to figure that all by myself in the first year. It was tough. Um, who do you hire? Uh, you know, there are today you're like, oh my gosh, I don't even think I can pay this person, and you have to figure it out. Um, my own bookkeeping. I was like, what? I don't even have a degree. Like, I don't know, what do I do? You know, I can't afford an accountant right now. Um, so I had to learn, get those quick books, learn on the fly, figure out how to do my, you know, what do I put aside? How do I pay myself? Am I an employee? Am I a self-employed? Like it was so many questions, so many things I had to figure out. And I know that a lot of businesses might relate with what I'm saying right now. Is it's it's hard. Now we're we're getting, you know, to a place where we do have an accountant helping us, you know, uh co-mingling and having trust, you know, different things. Like we had to figure all of that out from the beginning. So those were challenging days, but we're better now.
Speaker 1Yeah. You're right. I think so many businesses, business owners get into business because they love their craft of whatever it is that they're doing, and they know that they can be a successful business owner, but then they get into it and they realize wait, I'm not doing that thing as much because I'm learning all the business side of things. So it does take time to get those systems in place so that you can get back to doing what you
Hiring Help And Finding Me Time
Speaker 1love. Exactly.
Speaker 2But you know, I very early on I hired someone. Um, she's my sister-in-law, she's a paralegal, she's amazing. Her name is Chavette. Um, absolutely amazing. I mean, I don't think I could make it this far without her. Like, like the amount of work she does and how she keeps my firm afloat, um, it's definitely hiring that one person in the beginning who can do it all. And she definitely is doing it all. And I shout out to you, Chavette, because you're the thing.
Speaker 1We all need a Chavette in our business.
Speaker 2Everybody needs a Chevette in your business because my God, this woman, she's been it's two years now. Um, you know, at first when I was like, Oh, I don't know, Chavette. Okay, she was like, I'm here for you. And we I feel like we just built this thing together. Um, and so she I would not give her up. Like, I don't care what it is. Like, no, she's not leaving.
Speaker 1I love it, that's amazing. So you're clearly working so hard on your business. Do you have time for fun? And if so, what are you doing?
Speaker 2Um, yeah, it probably is any time for fun would be retail therapy. Retail therapy and doing my hair because those are the three things that I'm going. Shout out to my hairstylist, Lindsay. Um, yeah, that's that's that's about it. Because if I don't do those, I would lose my mind. So that's the only thing I do for fun. I wish I did other stuff.
Speaker 1Well, having your hair done is so therapeutic. Not only do you usually have a stylist who's kind of your therapist, but you're kind of forced to not have your phone out because it's kind of hard to look at your phone while you know everything is going on. You're forced to just stop and you're kind of trapped in the chair, and you have to relax and you have to let go.
Speaker 2Yeah, so I think it's my me time. It is my me time, and I get to tell my therapist everything. It's my therapist, it is the best time. So, yeah, anything I'm doing for fun, you catch me at the mall somewhere, the window shopping or actually shopping.
Speaker 1I love it. I love
How To Reach Woodly And Nominate
Speaker 1it. So, Woodly, if the listeners are inspired by this conversation, if they want to work with you, if they want to learn more from you, if they need some estate planning done, how can they find you?
Speaker 2Um, so we do have uh two locations. We have one in Reston, and then we do have an office in Fredericksburg, it's 10711 Spotsylvania Avenue here in Fredericksburg. Um, you can we have uh our website is VirginiaWealth Counsel.com. Um, that you could find us there. 571-7205195. You can call our office. Um, yeah, if you guys want to, we're here, we're here to serve and um come on over, come giving me a visit.
Speaker 1Amazing. Woodly, thank you so much for joining me on the podcast today and sharing Whetzel Fenelus Wealth Counsel with us.
Speaker 2Thank you. I appreciate you. Thank you for having me. Thank you.
SpeakerAll right, thank you for listening to the Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to FXBG Neighbors Podcast.com.