Resolve Your Family Law Matter
Arrange your free consultation with one of our experienced lawyers today.
2025
Recognised with both the prestigious Global Recognition Award and the Inside Family Law Award
Proud partner of
Our Awards
ASSISTED OVER 10,000 CLIENTS






Family Law Services
Collective Family Law Group is a leading authority in Queensland family law, recognised with both the prestigious Global Recognition Award and the Inside Family Law Award. Backed by a powerful 4.8-star average from over 200 five-star Google reviews, we are celebrated for our strategic expertise and compassionate representation.
Collective Family Law Group services the Gold Coast, Brisbane, and Cairns regions, consistently delivering positive, client-focused outcomes in complex legal matters.
- Most Client Focused Family Law Firm 2026 – Queensland
- Winner, The Best Family Lawyer in Gold Coast, QLD – Quality Business Awards Australia 2026
- 2025 Global Recognition Award
- Inside Family Law Award
- Finalist, 2025 Outstanding Legal Services-Local Business Awards
- 3 Best Family Lawyers in Gold Coast, QLD
What Our Clients Say About Us
Family Lawyers Gold Coast
Specialists in every field
Every family law matter is different — that’s why our Gold Coast, Brisbane, and
Cairns teams take the time to understand your specific situation before recommending
next steps. Whether you’re navigating a straightforward separation or a complex
property settlement involving businesses or overseas assets, we’ll give you a clear,
honest assessment of your options from day one.
Family Lawyers
Our entire focus is on our clients and retaining the best possible outcome for them, enabling them to move forward positively with their life after divorce and separation.
Advice Your Can Trust
When it comes to our family law advice we’re proud to say we’re different. Our family law solicitors on the Gold Coast offer our clients an honest and realistic approach to the problems that they are facing.
Fee Arrangements
We offer fixed fees, family law legal funding and flexible fee arrangements for all of our family law matters. We understand every family law matter is unique and therefore help with fee arrangements where we can.
Final Documents
Property Division
Don’t Hire a Family Lawyer Until You Watch This
Hayder Shkara March 12, 2026 1:00 pm
Rushing Divorce Is a Mistake - Here’s How Long It Really Takes
Hayder Shkara January 10, 2026 5:58 pm
We understand.
If you’re facing family law issues, you need to get the best family law advice possible. After all, it can be incredibly stressful going through separation or divorce or dealing with an angry spouse. It can be even more challenging if your story extends overseas or you have a complex asset pool with businesses or trust structures. Get the proper family law legal advice on your complex family law issues from a team of Gold Coast family lawyers that care about your outcomes and results. Free Family Law Guide – Download now
Our Team
Hayder Shkara
Director
Hayder Shkara’s journey from Olympic athlete to legal leader is anything but conventional. After representing Australia at the Rio Olympics in 2016, he turned his passion for discipline and justice into founding his own law firm in 2017 — a move that laid the foundation for his role at Collective Family Law.
Hayder brings deep expertise in family law, including financial and property settlements, parenting arrangements, divorce, wills and estates, consent orders, and binding financial agreements. He’s a compelling advocate in the courtroom and a trusted guide for clients navigating life’s most complex transitions.
Caralee Fontenele
Founder
Caralee Fontenele is the founder of Collective Family Law, where divorce and wellbeing collide.
Dannielle Young
Head of Family Law
Dannielle Young is Special Counsel and Head of Family Law at Collective Family Law Group, bringing almost two decades of experience practising exclusively in family law.
Kirsten Lesina
Special Counsel
Kirsten is a dedicated family lawyer who combines legal expertise with compassion to guide her clients through some of life’s most challenging moments.
Julie Fotheringham
Special Counsel
With over two decades of dedicated experience in family law and broader legal advocacy, Julie brings a deeply informed and strategic approach to every matter she handles.
Femke van der Hoeven
Operations Manager
Femke is an innovative and driven accounting professional with over 20 years of experience.
Ivy Lawrence
Solicitor
Ivy is a dedicated family lawyer who provides practical, tailored advice, focusing on achieving positive outcomes and resolving matters efficiently with minimal impact on families.
Maddison Kable
Law Graduate
Maddison is a compassionate law graduate with strong paralegal experience, dedicated to supporting clients through sensitive matters with clarity, care, and professionalism.
Annabelle Lau
Lawyer
Annabelle graduated from the University of London with a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) in 2015. She subsequently completed her Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice (GDLP) at Bond University and was admitted as a legal practitioner of the Supreme Court of Queensland in 2018.
Family Lawyers Gold Coast Free Consultation
contact us today
Property Settlement and Superannuation
As experienced family lawyers we can help you negotiate your property settlement and advise you if it is necessary to file an application in court to obtain a fair and equitable property settlement.
We will ensure that you obtain full disclosure of all the assets in your matrimonial property pool from the outset so your family lawyer can help you make concise decisions.
Child Custody
Collective Family Lawyers are Gold Coast’s family law experts and provide a range of family law services, including assisting families in arriving at the best possible outcomes for the care and custody of their children. Our family law solicitors can assist with legal matters that include the well-being of children, child custody, child abduction, international relocations of children, interstate relocation of a child, child support, and international legal matters involving children. Our family lawyers will help you to finalise your parenting matters and reach an agreement that is in your child’s best interest.
Separation and Divorce
To get a divorce, you must show that you’ve been separated for at least 12 months without any possibility of reconciliation. If you can show that the separation is genuine, you can apply to the Court for a divorce, no matter the other party’s wishes. You should look for the best divorce lawyer in the Gold Coast to assist you with your divorce proceedings.
Family Dispute Resolution
Attending Family dispute resolution can help you, and your former spouse reach an agreement following separation. A common example of Family Dispute Resolution is Mediation. In this situation, the case is heard in front of a neutral third party who can assist the parties in resolving their disputes and coming to a resolution. With the help of a mediator, you may be able to reach an agreement regarding the division of property, money, assets and care of children.
Domestic Violence
If you or someone you know has suffered from domestic or family violence, a Domestic Violence Order (“DVO”) — also known as a protection order — may help protect you or the person in need of protection from future harm.
A DVO will order the other party not to commit domestic violence and be of good behaviour towards you. A DVO may also stop the person from attending your home or work, approaching or contacting you or other people named in the order. In urgent cases, a temporary order can be made before the full matter is considered.
Family Court Procedures
In family law, there are times in both property matters and parenting (child custody) matters when the couple can not reach an agreement and one of the parties may be forced to file an application in the court to seek the court’s assistance. If this occurs it is not easy to navigate the family court process alone and it is highly recommended that because of the complexities that the parties seek legal representation from an experienced family lawyer. We assist Gold Coast people in their family law legal matters to help them with initiating applications, court appearances, responding material, court hearings, interim applications and trials. The Court process is complex and difficult. For the best legal representation on the Gold Coast, Collective Family Law can assist you.
Our Recent Articles
Biggest Mistakes People Make During Divorce:
Divorce Mistakes to Avoid in 2026
Most people going through a divorce aren’t careless. They’re overwhelmed, emotional, and trying to make dozens of decisions at once during one of the most challenging periods of their life.
Consent Orders vs Binding Financial Agreements:
Which One Is Right for You?
Many separating couples reach a verbal or written understanding about how to divide their property and simply move on, without putting anything formal in place. It feels faster and cheaper
How Does Spousal Maintenance
Affect My Final Property Settlement?
Working out whether you’re entitled to spousal maintenance, a property settlement, or both, can feel like trying to solve two puzzles that keep changing shape depending on how you look
Frequently Asked Questions
When should I hire a family lawyer?
If you’re facing any form of family law legal challenge related to your property or children, it’s important that you get accurate family law legal advice so you know where you stand. For example, you may not be able to agree with your partner on care arrangements for your child/children. Or perhaps you cannot agree on a property settlement and the other party is trying to take more than they are entitled to. Getting proper, reliable and clear family law legal advice and support from an experienced family law solicitor can make all the difference.
At Collective Family Law we will guide you through the entire process, advise you and help you find the best solution for your family law issues.
How do I pay for a family lawyer?
We offer a range of fee arrangements including hourly billing, fixed fee and legal funding.
We offer legal funding products to help all clients that require a property division have access to justice. If you have a property that needs to be divided between you and your ex-partner, but you have no way of paying legal fees for your family law matter, this is where legal funding comes in. Our family law firm is focused on delivering the best family law services and as such have different ways in which you can access justice, including legal funding.
At Collective Family Law Group, we are committed to progressive fee structures and believe in being upfront and clear about our costs, so there are no surprises.
We will be delighted to talk about your specific situation, and you can book a free consultation with us.
What can a family lawyer do?
A family lawyer can help you with a variety of different legal issues, including:
- Family dispute resolution
- Divorce mediation
- Care of children
- Property settlement
- Domestic violence
- Prenuptial agreements
- Other areas of national or international family law
They can represent you at every stage of the matter and help you reach an agreement with the other party, ideally without needing to go to court.
How do I choose a family lawyer?
When looking for a family law solicitor, consider experience, empathy, approachability and simplicity.
You’ll want to work with family law solicitors who are fully conversant with all aspects of the law as they apply to your case. You will also want to work with a family law team that strives to bring matters to a conclusion as cost-effectively and as quickly as possible — and ideally without having to go in front of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia.
At Collective Family Law our family law solicitors are dedicated for fighting for your rights and ensuring that our clients get the best possible outcome in their property division and child custody arrangements.
What questions should I ask a family lawyer?
When looking for a family law solicitor, consider experience, empathy, approachability and simplicity.
You’ll want to work with family law solicitors who are fully conversant with all aspects of the law as they apply to your case. You will also want to work with a family law team that strives to bring matters to a conclusion as cost-effectively and as quickly as possible — and ideally without having to go in front of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia.
At Collective Family Law our family law solicitors are dedicated for fighting for your rights and ensuring that our clients get the best possible outcome in their property division and child custody arrangements.
What makes a good family lawyer?
A great family lawyer has many years of experience in the one area of law and a stellar reputation.
They will be understanding of and sensitive to your needs and provide clear choices to help you make a decision. Collective Family Law group will support you through this major life change with compassion, understanding, and a clear sense of direction.
Above all, we strive to help as many clients as possible understand their family law legal rights and navigate smoothly through the family law process.
Choose a family law solicitor that has your back and will fight for what is yours.
Where can I find family lawyers near me?
If you’re looking for family lawyers in the Gold Coast or Brisbane, reach out to our experienced team of family law solicitors. We are ready and waiting to help you, no matter how complex your family law situation is. Get in touch When you need help with any family law matters, reach out to Collective Family Law Group to get the ball rolling with a free consultation.
Do you have other office locations?
Collective Family Law Group are primarily a Gold Coast based law firm, but we are affiliated with law firms across Australia. It is best to select one based on the location you are looking for:
Family Lawyers Melbourne (Melbourne Family Lawyers)
Family lawyers Dandenong (Dandenong Family Lawyers)
Family lawyers Sydney (Justice Family Lawyers)
Family Lawyers Brisbane (Melrose Keys Lawyers)
Family Lawyers Springwood (JMR Lawyers)
Family Lawyers North Lakes (ABA Lawyers)
Family Lawyers Ipswich (Ipswich Family Lawyers)
If you need representation in Gold Coast, or wider New South Wales, please contact Collective Family Law Group on 07 5574 0971.
Collective Family Law Group is a proud partner of Friends with Dignity, supporting adults and children escaping domestic violence. As part of the Justice Network, we're helping raise funds and awareness for this vital cause.
CRITICAL: Understand This Before Family Court (Australia Guide)
Hayder Shkara March 19, 2026 8:01 pm