In the context of well-documented shifts in parenting culture, recent research has suggested many fathers now articulate legal claims, not just in a language of rights, justice and entitlement, but also, increasingly, via reference to ideas of care, caring and welfare. This paper reconsiders the development of fathers’ rights politics within the legal arena and, drawing on the findings of a study of UK fathers’ rights groups, seeks to trace a way through the often highly polarised debates in this area.