About Escrow

People use escrow services for high value online transactions when they don’t know each other. We protect buyers, sellers and brokers alike, eliminating any risk of transactions with unknown parties.

No matter where you sell or buy goods and services online, whether it’s an auction site, an online marketplace or a B2B e-commerce site, an escrow service has you covered.

“Buy or sell anything online safely and confidentially.”

It’s a regulated and audited service that you can trust to keep you safe. By treating both parties involved in the transaction equally, Scopus Law Firm makes buying and selling on the Internet significantly more secure.

We believe that existing online payment methods do not provide adequate protection against fraud.
Scopus Law Firm combines the trustee process known from lawyers and notaries with digital technologies. We are thus setting new standards in payment transactions for secure trading: fair, cheap and fast.

Online retail fraud is a growing problem, causing billions of euros in damages every year. Existing online payment methods usually focus on fast processing, but do not offer sufficient protection for buyers and sellers. A safe alternative is to use a lawyer and your escrow account, but this is time consuming and cumbersome.

Scopus Law Firm reduces the risk of fraud by acting as a trusted third party that collects and holds funds and only pays them out when both buyers and sellers are satisfied.

In 2014, when lawyer Dr. Christian Kleiner founded Scopus Law Firm to give everyone access to secure escrow payments, at that time it was still intended as a pure end customer project for digital euro payments in Germany and Europe. Today we process trustee payments throughout Europe, both for organizations as well as for companies and platforms.

Scopus Law Firm helps you to securely buy or sell a variety of goods and services online. From digital products to a variety of high-value goods, we offer you invaluable security when transacting with unknown third parties. Scopus Law Firm makes buying and selling on the Internet much more secure.

An escrow account is an account designed to safely hold funds temporarily. The escrow provider should be a disinterested third party with no preference about who ultimately receives funds from the account. For example, in a real estate transaction, the escrow account does not belong to the buyer or seller.

An escrow agreement is an agreement between the depositor (usually the buyer), the beneficiary (usually the seller) and us acting as a fiduciary.

In this tripartite agreement, the depositor and the beneficiary agree on the trust relationship which we join as trustees.

According to this agreement, the depositor deposits a certain document or amount with us as escrow agent. While the transaction is being finalized, these monies are held safely and independently in our escrow account. The depositor therefore transfers his obligation to pay the beneficiary to us, because in the escrow agreement the depositor has stipulated that the escrowed funds must be released to the beneficiary only when the beneficiary completes an obligation or series of obligations as set out in the escrow agreement. Until then, the funds remain in the trust account.

Should the beneficiary fail however to fulfil its agreed contractual obligations, the depositor reserves the right to recover the funds from the escrow agent and reverse the transaction.

To achieve the necessary trust, the escrow agreement must define clearly the following.

Contractual obligations
The specific contractual obligations of both parties, i.e. the depositor and the beneficiary including deadlines, quality standard and the exact amount of the escrow funds to be deposited.

Inspection period
Once the beneficiary has duly fulfilled their obligation and made the goods or services available to the depositor, the verification period begins. This is the period during which the depositor has the right to examine and then accept or reject the beneficiary’s goods or services. This right of refusal depends on quality, quantity or other parameters to be clearly stated in the trust agreement, as well as on the number of days foreseen for its performance. Upon successful completion of the inspection and receipt of the associated notification Scopus Law Firm will pay the beneficiary on behalf of the depositor.

Explicit instructions
From the depositor, the escrow agreement must specify in detail the express instructions to be fulfilled before the escrow funds are to be released to the beneficiary.

Dispute settlement mechanism
The escrow agreement must specify the method of dispute resolution such as the competent court, arbitration or mediation as well as applicable law. It must also clearly specify what happens if the resolution fails.

Final terms
In general, an escrow account is closed after the successful completion of a transaction between the depositor and the beneficiary or when the depositor makes a payment, if the beneficiary fails to meet its contractual obligations.

The agreement must explicitly specify how and when any escrowed funds are to either party – account number, banking details etc. It should clearly describe the underlying transaction and the circumstances leading to the closing of the escrow account.

In international transactions, it must also indicate the agreed exchange rate and currency.

Our fees
Amount from €0 to €10,000.00 – Escrow fee €276
Amount from €10,000.01 to €25,000.00 – Escrow fee €411
Amount from €25,000.01 to €40,000.00 – Escrow fee €519
Amount from €40,000.01 to €55,000.00 – Escrow fee €689
Amount from €55,000.01 to €100,000.00 – Escrow fee €997
Amount over €100,000.01 – Escrow fee €1,357

An escrow is a contractual arrangement in which a neutral third party receives and disburses money for the primary transacting parties e.g., buyer and seller. The advantage of an escrow protects both parties by keeping the payment in a secure escrow account e.g., an law firm’s or attorney’s trust account, which is only released when all of the terms of an agreement are met as overseen by the neutral escrow law firm or attorney. The escrow law firm or attorney are NOT AN ATTORNEY FOR EITHER PARTY.

A typical escrow arrangement occurs as follows:

1. Buyer and seller agree to the terms. The buyer or seller initiates a transaction. After registering the transaction, all parties agree to the terms of the transaction.
2. Buyer pays Scopus Law Firm. The buyer sends a payment to our secure escrow account using an approved payment method, the payment is verified by Scopus Law Firm, and the seller is then notified that the money has been “deposited”.
3. The seller sends the goods to the buyer. After verification of the payment, the seller has the right to ship the goods and send the tracking information. Scopus Law Firm confirms that the buyer has received the goods.
4. The buyer accepts the goods. The buyer has a certain number of days to examine the goods and accept or reject them. If this is not approved, the buyer will file a dispute and enter the dispute resolution process.
5. Scopus Law Firm pays the seller. Upon acceptance of the goods, Scopus Law Firm releases the money from the escrow account to the seller.