°A written
instrument, such as a
deed, temporarily deposited with a neutral third party (the Escrow
agent), by the agreement of two parties to a valid
contract. The escrow agent will deliver the
document to the
benefited party when the
conditions of the contract have been met. The depositor has no
control over the instrument in escrow.
°In common law, escrow applied to the deposits only of instruments for
conveyance of land, but it now applies to all instruments so deposited.