Putting it in escrow is what my attorney recommended. We just don’t want to give her the money ahead of time of her not signing her name off deed and vacating the home.
If you did that to me (put the money in the attorney's escrow account, guaranteeing it taking forever to be paid to me) I would flat out refuse to move out of the home until the divorce was final. I would also let the judge know that instead of just buying me out and getting it done, like the judge suggested, that you deliberately made things more complicated.
Yes, she should have to sign her name off the deed in order to get the money, but you cannot expect her to vacate before she gets the money because she will NEED the money to secure other housing.