Laravel Eloquent where field is X or null

Using coalesce() converts null to 0:

$query = Model::where('field1', 1)
    ->whereNull('field2')
    ->where(DB::raw('COALESCE(datefield_at,0)'), '<', $date)
;

It sounds like you need to make use of advanced where clauses.

Given that search in field1 and field2 is constant we will leave them as is, but we are going to adjust your search in datefield a little.

Try this:

$query = Model::where('field1', 1)
    ->whereNull('field2')
    ->where(function ($query) {
        $query->where('datefield', '<', $date)
            ->orWhereNull('datefield');
    }
);

If you ever need to debug a query and see why it isn't working, it can help to see what SQL it is actually executing. You can chain ->toSql() to the end of your eloquent query to generate the SQL.

You could merge two queries together:

$merged = $query_one->merge($query_two);

If you are confused about where to put the get()/first() for getting the collection or a single row here is the way:

$query = Model::where('field1', 1)
    ->whereNull('field2')
    ->where(function ($query) {
        $query->where('datefield', '<', $date)
            ->orWhereNull('datefield');
    }
)->get();