Secure the payment of the price, without exposing either party
In any transaction where the price is paid before the asset changes hands, or the other way round, one of the parties takes a risk. The escrow agent removes it: the price is entrusted to a lawyer, held on a CARPA account, and released only once the agreed conditions precedent are met.
Security for every party
Buyer, seller, intermediary: all protected
Escrow does not protect one party against the other: it protects the transaction itself. Everyone knows the price is available, locked, and released under rules set in advance.
For the payer
Certainty of paying only on completion
The price is placed in the hands of a trusted third party and released only when the agreed conditions are met. You commit the funds without exposing them: if the deal falls through, they come back to you.
For the payee
Proof that the price is available
From signing, you know the price is actually held on the CARPA account: no longer a promise to pay, but funds genuinely locked, released to you as soon as the conditions are met.
For the intermediary
A deal that closes without friction
Advisers, brokers and introducers secure the closing: escrow neutralises counterparty risk, smooths the release of funds and protects the relationship between the parties.
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Neither early payment of the price, nor early delivery of the asset: the escrow agent removes the “who performs first” dilemma.
Reasons to use one
What an escrow agent changes for your transaction
Neutralise counterparty risk
The escrow agent holds the funds until the obligations are performed: no party has to perform first at the risk of not being paid, or of paying for nothing.
A neutral, impartial third party
The escrow lawyer acts neither for the buyer nor for the seller: they apply the agreement to the letter and release the funds only on the set conditions, with no unilateral discretion for any party.
The safety of a CARPA account
The funds are ring-fenced on a dedicated sub-account of the French bar’s fund-handling body, checked as to the origin and destination of the sums, separate from any other assets.
Suited to all your transactions
M&A, private equity, financing, business sales, sales of assets or artworks, settlement agreements: the escrow agreement is tailored around each transaction.
Traceability and peace of mind
Every step is time-stamped and documented, from receipt to release of the funds. The parties proceed with the same information and the certainty that the price is protected throughout.
Why a lawyer
The most legitimate trusted third party to hold the price
Not everyone can hold funds in escrow. Entrusting the price to Maître Martin Estanove, lawyer, means benefiting from a framework only a regulated professional can bring together: fund handling passes through the CARPA, which checks its origin and destination; professional secrecy covers the whole matter; and professional ethics guarantee strict impartiality between the parties.
The escrow agreement, drafted to measure, sets out precisely the conditions for release. No sum leaves the account outside this framework: neither at the sole will of the party who paid, nor at that of the beneficiary.
This rigour is what makes escrow a real safeguard, not a mere formality.
Frequently asked questions
What we are asked most often
Escrow with a lawyer or with a notary: what is the difference?
The level of security is comparable; the nature of the transaction guides the choice. The lawyer handles the funds through the CARPA, which checks every movement and ring-fences the sums on a dedicated sub-account. Where the transaction does not require a notarial deed, for instance a sale of shares or of SCI units by private agreement, the escrow naturally goes to a lawyer.
How long does an escrow last?
The term results from the agreement. In practice, escrow of the price of a business usually lasts three to five months, and escrow securing representations and warranties twelve to twenty-four months; an escrow linked to a financing or a dispute runs until the conditions are met or the dispute is settled.
What happens if the conditions precedent are not met?
The agreement provides for this, most often through a long-stop date: if the conditions are not met in time, the funds are returned to the depositing party, or allocated as agreed. The escrow agent strictly applies the agreement.
Do escrowed funds earn interest?
No. The financial income of CARPA accounts goes neither to the parties nor to the lawyer: it funds access to justice. Escrow is therefore not an investment.
Can escrowed funds be seized?
Funds held on a CARPA account are ring-fenced and cannot be seized by the lawyer’s creditors. Between the parties, their allocation is set by the escrow agreement.
Can a French lawyer act as escrow agent in an international deal?
Yes. A French lawyer can be appointed as trusted third party in an international transaction, even where the main contract is governed by foreign law; the funds are then held on a CARPA account, with the safeguards of the French framework.
A transaction to secure?
Let’s discuss your situation
A first confidential conversation to consider an escrow suited to your situation.
