escrow, in Anglo-American law, an agreement, usually a written instrument, concerning an obligation between two or more parties, that gives a third party instructions that concern property put in his control upon the happening of a certain condition. In commercial usage, this condition is most frequently the performance of an act, such as payment of the purchase price, by the party who is to receive the property. Escrow also is commonly used in family transactions, in which, upon the occurrence of the condition, such as the death of a family member, certain written instruments will be delivered by the third party (escrowee) to another family member. The term generally is used to refer to the state or condition, though it properly refers only to a written instrument of instructions.