I’ve seen it over and over again where the dad buys a house for their baby’s mom to live in (once their baby is born) and pays their utilities until their maternity leave is over and the mom goes back to work. The rent-value of the house is right at or close to the value of the child support which would be ordered. This works very well for workplace romances in which the dad is currently married to someone else, has a “reputation” to keep up and wants to keep the whole sorry saga out of a custody battle and away from wagging tongues at work. The new mom signs a gag order to remain mum about the dad to co-workers and moves into the house. The kid eventually reaches the age of 18 at which time the dad steps in to help with college expenses. To do so, the mom voluntarily moves out of the house (or is legally evicted) and the dad rehabs a little and sells the house for a very handsome profit, giving him college funds for his (extra) kid and much more.

The dad’s “cuckolded” spouse at home, saddled with 2-4 kids of her own, goes along with the program, of course, to maintain her and her kids “lifestyle” … even taking care of the extra kid when he/she comes visiting.

Only one single mom that I know of moved out of the house the (married) dad provided her before their kid turned 18 …. to get married herself and move into her new spouse’s house. The rest stayed single and got free rent in a SFR in SD County for 18 years!

These machinations by the parents are a very popular form of “child support” among the movers and shakers of society … especially legal professionals. The dad ends up making a profit out of the deal (after owning the home and paying taxes and insurance on it long-term, of course). These deals are very, very common.