Macedon Ranges Family Law

Heidi, Suzanne and the team ensured our Estate Planning ran smoothly and effortlessly from the first consult through to finalisation of documentation.

We thoroughly recommend this business, all of our business was taken care of most professionally and promptly.

If I had to do it all again,
MRFL would be my #1 choice.
Megan and the team are down to earth, precise & professional. Megan worked with me to achieve a fair and honest outcome. Without judgement or ego, my every query was addressed, promptly & efficiently.
Thank you Megan and the team at MRFL.
I will be forever grateful.

Megan and her team were awesome. They were efficient, helpful and friendly. We would definitely recommend them if you were after someone to draft up your Will (or any other family law related service!).

I would put zero stars if there was that option. After being abused, in various forms, by my ex husband I was, in effect, financially abused by MRFL. I had come to Megan after being taken advantage of by another solicitor and ending up with a legal bill of almost $40,000 before even getting to conciliation. Megan advised these fees were outrageous and that I should definitely fight to have them reduced. Of course, while I was doing that, I didn't have time to notice she was doing exactly the same thing, but what she did was much worse by far. From July 2016 to January 2017 my account was in excess of $15,000. For this fee she only attended one conciliation hearing. The fee after conciliation was around $6,000 but in four months while virtually nothing was happening, it jumped by nearly $10,000. She did not want to follow my instructions, allowing my ex to make false statements, time and again. She then did not allow enough time to prepare for the final hearing, but laid the blame solely on me for her poor preparation, expecting me to be available at the drop of a hat when I had clearly stated that I needed fair warning when she needed to see me. I had advised her that I did not work Wed and Thu but she made no effort to work around that once I had signed up with her. She then withdrew as my solicitor three weeks out from final hearing, leaving me without representation. Every solicitor I called was not keen to go up against my ex's solicitor as they stated that, even if they had the time to take my case, he was a very difficult and aggressive opponent. Megan bailed without warning or even trying to discuss anything with me. She simply sent an email to his solicitor and to myself. No forewarning or phone call first. Not a thing.
It was very clear from her responses to my emails that she did not read my emails in detail (but she definitely charged for the time to do so). I believe I paid for her to shuffle papers around her desk without making any inroads on getting a satisfactory settlement.
My ex claimed he was winding his business down and had no value ascribed to it. She accepted that as gospel, despite my protests and stating he has no intention of doing this, especially knowing full well how his business operated. Needless to say his business is still going strong two years on. She did nothing to get spousal support. I was left to pay all outgoings for the family home on a meagre income and no child support.
Despite the first solicitors fees being outrageous we managed to get it down to $27,000, but she did ten times the work Megan did (although as with Megan, it was not necessary and not usable). The first solicitor went to court 3 times before a magistrate and, although most of them were not needed or requested by me, had ordered subpoenas. Megan's fees were for very little work and one conciliation before a registrar. I've had friends have far better outoutco with half Megan's fees, despite their cases dragging on for years. I did send her a letter asking her how she could possibly have charged so much for such little work. She did not even afford me a reply.

In conclusion Megan didn't have the know how or what it takes to go to final hearing. She is not about getting results for the client. I've come to realise that like most family law solicitors, it was all about how much you can cheat someone out of when they are at their most vulnerable.
Unfortunately I haven't had time to take this matter to VCAT as I have been unwell, in and out of hospital and already lost 7 months off work, fight another battle. In effect my ex got 70% of all assets and still hasn't paid a cent towards the children. Thanks to Megan I got thrown to the wolves, enabling him and his solicitor to intimidate me to breaking point. Megan was clearly intimidated by my ex and his solicitor and didn't want the blame for a poor result.
If you are looking to get the most out of your settlement, steer clear of this firm and Megan in particular. In hindsight I should have hired a male solicitor.

I couldn't thank Linda and the team at MRFL enough for everything they have done for me and my family. Unlike other lawyers/solicitors I've dealt with before, Linda is extremely professional whilst still treating you as a human being. Linda breaks down the legal lingo into understandable wording, always keeps you updated, takes into account your views and feelings and is just an absolute pleasure to work with.