Tyrese is now officially single, and he will be heavily investing in his child's future ... that's how the judge advised him to view the $10k he'll be paying monthly in child support going forward.

Tyrese's courtroom showdown with his estranged wife, Samantha Lee Gibson, wrapped up Tuesday evening in Georgia with the judge ordering the actor to pay $10,690/month in child support. The exes have a daughter, Soraya.

Perhaps sensing Tyrese wasn't happy with the outcome, the judge addressed him directly, saying ... "This is not a punishment for you. Put that money where it belongs, in the child! The judge also advised Samantha and Tyrese not to bad mouth each other in front of Soraya -- and said Tyrese should be happy if his ex moves into a nicer house, because it means a better standard of living for his daughter.

Now, the hitch for Tyrese is the judge said the $10k/month dates back to when Samantha first filed for divorce in Sept. 2020 ... which means he owes his ex a lump sum of $209k.

However, Tyrese got a credit, noting he had been making Samantha's car payments for 2 years, the judge knocked off $46k ... bringing the lump sum down to $169k.

More good news -- at least for Tyrese -- the judge said neither party will pay spousal support. As TMZ first reported, that's exactly what Tyrese wanted -- and he also wanted to keep their Range Rover and let Samantha have their Land Rover. He got that too.

Almost as an afterthought, the very last thing the judge did was to grant Samantha's petition for divorce -- so, both of them are single ... even if they're not yet ready to mingle.

BTW, Tyrese is already paying $10,690/month in child support for his teenage daughter, Shayla, who lives in California with his ex-wife Norma Mitchell.