Nick Cannon will soon have welcomed a dozen children (Picture: Getty Images )

Nick Cannon could be paying millions in child support each year to the mothers of his children, a legal expert says.

The US TV personality, 42, has so far welcomed 10 children, including twins with Mariah Carey, and recently announced his 11th and 12th children are on the way.

As well as Mariah, Nick has children with Bre Tiesi, LaNisha Cole, Brittany Bell and Abby De La Rosa.

He also had a son, Zen, with model Alyssa Scott, however the baby boy tragically died of a brain tumour last year at just five months old; Alyssa is now expecting their second child, and Nick’s 11th.

With Nick to be a father to a dozen children in the coming months, The Sun US spoke to California-based family attorney and legal expert Goldie Schon, who suggests he could be paying an extreme amount of money to the mothers of his children.

Speaking in terms of Californian law, where Nick resides, Schon estimates Nick could be paying out $3 million (£2.5 million) each year, thanks to his high yearly income.

Abby, who shares twins Zion and Zillion with Nick, is expecting again (Picture: @hiabbydelarosa/Instagram)

Alyssa and Nick are expecting their second child together after the tragic death of their five-month-old son Zen (Picture: Instagram/ @alyssascottofficial)

He explained that if Nick is taking in over $5 million (£4.25m), the law takes into account ‘what it would take to have the children kept in the lifestyle of both parents,’ as the children must have the same lifestyle with mum as with dad.

For LaNisha and their newborn daughter Onyx, Schon says this could be around $40,000 (£34,000) a month.

Abby, who is the mother of twins Zion and Zillion and is expecting their third child, could be receiving around $80,000 (£68,000) a month, plus expenses, once she gives birth to their new arrival.

He welcomed daughter Onyx in September with LaNisha (Picture: misslanishacole/Instagram)

Nick has three children with Brittany: Golden, Powerful and Rise (Picture: @missbbell/Instagram)

The same is true for Brittany, who has Golden, five, and Powerful, one, with Nick, and also gave birth to their son Rise Messiah in September; Schon reckons she and Abby could be getting paid between up to $750,000 (£639,200) a year as they share three kids with the comedian.

He also welcomed a son, Legendary, with model Bre Tiesi, in July of this year, with Schon estimating she could be receiving $40,000 (£34,000) a month for the baby boy.

When it comes to chart-topper Mariah however, with whom Nick shares twins Moroccan and Monroe, 11, Schon says it is unlikely he is paying child support as the singer likely makes more money than he does – and could even be paying him support.

Nick welcomed son Legendary with Bre in July (Picture: Bre Tiesi Youtube )

The legal expert stressed there is no way to know for sure how much Nick is paying out, as none of it is on the public record, being done privately rather than in the courts.

This, Schon says, likely means Nick has been ‘so generous’ with monthly child support that there has been no reason for the mothers to litigate against him.

He warned, however, that ‘while Nick may very well be keeping his mothers and children financially stable, the hard part is being there for the children and parenting.’

It’s unlikely Nick pays child support to award-winning musician Mariah for their twins, the expert said (Picture: FilmMagic)

It was seemingly confirmed last week that Nick was expecting his 12th child, with girlfriend Abby, days after it was confirmed he was expecting his 11th with Alyssa.

Abby had appeared to confirm he was the father of the unborn child with a meme on her Instagram stories, which read: ‘1 night with a libra can turn into 3-4 years. be careful’.

She commented underneath: ‘Dead! lol 1 night turned into 4 years and 3 kids real quick. I see no lies here smh. y’all be safe out there.’

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Nick, who already shares two kids with Abby with a third on the way, is a Libra.

Metro.co.uk has reached out to reps for Nick for comment.

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MORE : Nick Cannon expecting 12th child as Abby De La Rosa ‘confirms’ he’s father of her baby

MORE : Nick Cannon expecting 11th child after Alyssa Scott confirms baby news with stunning shoot

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The rapper will have welcomed a dozen children in total in the coming months.