Meet the Team

Meet the Team

Our Firm & Our People

Choosing the right family lawyer matters, especially when you’re already dealing with one of the hardest periods of your life. At Collective Family Law Group, our entire team is focused solely on family law, so you can be confident your matter is in experienced, capable hands.

Collective Family Law Group has an expert team of lawyers with their entire focus on family law issues, our client’s can be rest assured their matter is in experienced hands.
Hayder Shkara
Director
Hayder has vast experience in family law, including financial and property settlements, divorce, custody matters, wills and estate, consent orders, and binding financial agreements.
Caralee Fontenele
Founder
Caralee Fontenele is the founder of Collective Family Law, where divorce and wellbeing collide.
Dannielle Young
Head of Family Law
Dannielle is a Special Counsel & Head of Family Law and has practiced exclusively in family law since her admission in January 2007.
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. From her early days studying law at the University of Kent, England to her career here in Queensland, she has focused on resolving complex family disputes with empathy, integrity and precision.
Ivy Lawrence
Solicitor
Ivy was admitted as a Solicitor to the Supreme Court of Queensland in 2024 and holds a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) and a Bachelor of Behavioural Science (Psychology) from the Queensland University of Technology.
Annabelle Lau
Lawyer
Annabelle graduated from the University of London with a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) in 2015...
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.
Marielle Nillas
Paralegal
Marielle is a dedicated Paralegal at Collective Family Law Group, supporting matters with organisation, accuracy, and care while assisting across the firm as needed.
Femke van der Hoeven
Operations Manager
Femke is an innovative and driven accounting professional with over 20 years of experience.
Tahlia De Witts
Administrator
Tahlia is a proactive and versatile Administrator who keeps the team running smoothly through thoughtful support, strong organization, and a positive, approachable attitude.
Donna Smith
Receptionist
Donna is our receptionist and has recently joined our team after many years in the health industry.

What Our Clients Say About Us

What is the mission of Collective Family Law?

We provide a family law service where our family law solicitors provide family law advice with compassion, and our clients leave our family law service with clarity and certainty. The three “C’s” of how we at Collective Family Law conduct all of our family law cases. 

It is our top priority and mission to ensure that every client receives the service that they deserve. Not only the best family law legal advice that they can get, but the small things that make all the difference, such as promptly returning phone calls, returning correspondence to the other side in a timely manner, ensuring that the family law matter keeps moving forward without delays to ensure that costs are kept as low as possible. 

We can tackle family law cases that are both small and simple right through to incredibly complex family law issues. 

Not sure how to find a good family lawyer?

You might realise that you need help in your family law matter but you are not sure exactly what a family law solicitor does for you if you are going through a divorce or family law dispute.

Can a family law solicitor help you?

If you considering separation or have separated from your long-term relationship, it is very wise to receive initial family law advice from an experienced family law solicitor. It is best to seek family law advice for a family lawyer that specialises in this practice area, rather than a lawyer that practices lots of different areas of law.

A family lawyer is a Solicitor who has a particular interest and skill in working in the practice area of family law. Family law solicitors often assist with advising on your family law rights and obligations, advising on your entitles in a property division or spousal maintenance application, assisting in getting full disclosure on a property division matter, advising clients on child custody arrangements, preparing and drafting consent orders, negotiating outcomes for family law clients regarding property and parenting, drafting court material, attending court, attending mediations and preparing clients for trial.

Good family lawyers are experienced in dealing with family law issues on a daily basis. Every family law matter is unique and family law solicitors will give advice specific to your own circumstances, ensure that your interests are protected, negotiate a settlement for you, and represent you in Court if needed.

What does a Family Lawyer Gold Coast Do?

We provide a family law service where our family law solicitors provide family law advice with compassion, and our clients leave our family law service with clarity and certainty. The three “C’s” of how we at Collective Family Law conduct all of our family law cases. 

It is our top priority and mission to ensure that every client receives the service that they deserve. Not only the best family law legal advice that they can get, but the small things that make all the difference, such as promptly returning phone calls, returning correspondence to the other side in a timely manner, ensuring that the family law matter keeps moving forward without delays to ensure that costs are kept as low as possible. 

We can tackle family law cases that are both small and simple right through to incredibly complex family law issues. 

How much does a family lawyer cost in Australia?

We understand that most family law clients are concerned about how much a family lawyer will cost and what that means for them as they move through their family law matters.

When we represent our clients we always talk about family law costs and what the likely outcome will be if the client goes ahead with each step. Your family law costs need to be commercially sound and viable.  There should be a return on your investment when you are spending money of legal fees in your family law matter. 

We help our clients to reduce their costs by educating them about what steps they can take to reduce the overall cost of their family law matter. 

At Collective Family Law we also offer a range of payment options such as JustFund or Plenti. This allows our family law clients to not have further financial stress as they go through their family law process or family court process. 

Why choose Collective Family Law?

Our family law solicitors only practice family and divorce law, making them experts at family law, divorce and separation. 

Collective Family Law is a well-established and highly regarded family law firm and best lawyers Gold Coast. 

We have a highly skilled family law team and strict guidelines as to how we serve our family law clients and make their family law matters our priority. 

Our family law solicitors understand that our client’s family law issues are pressing and urgent for our clients. We train our family law solicitors to be excellent communicators and to ensure that our family law clients know what is happening on their property division or child custody matter at all times. 

As expert family lawyers Gold Coast, we promote resolving family law matters as quickly as possible and most often without Court proceedings. 

We offer free and reduced fee initial consultations so that our clients get to meet their family law solicitor without any financial risk before they engage our family law firm. 

We can represent you in court or help you settle without going to court.

Our family law solicitors pride themselves on getting our family law clients the results they deserve and as a result, our expert family law team receives positive reviews every month. 

We are conveniently located in Southport with three hours of free parking and a welcoming and friendly office space.

As expert family lawyers, we can assist family law clients in all aspects of family law. 

Our family lawyers and family law firm are well-connected with other experts in the industry that can assist and help our family law clients get the results that they deserve. 

At Collective Family Law, we have been practising family law exclusively for a long time. If you are not sure about choosing our family law firm to help you with your separation or divorce, our free, no-obligation family law consultation is a great way to see if our family law solicitors are the right fit for you. 

Need more information about family law processes before you choose your Gold Coast family lawyers?

There is lots of information about family law in Australia and how the family law process is managed. We have lots of information on our website such as how to separate amicablywhat the four-step process iswhat consent orders are or how to pick a family law solicitor. 

You can also download our family law guide ‘Who Get’s What?’ here

For further information on family law, you can also visit the government website for family law here

Learn what steps you can take next.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Name(Required)
Is your email and mobile number safe to contact? If not, please contact the firm directly.(Required)
Preferred Method of Contact(Required)
The other party's first and last name(Required)
Required so the office can run a conflict-of-interest check, handled with strict confidentiality.