A family trust holding growth shares can allow more than one family member to claim the LCGE on a future sale — the small-company echo of spreading economics across entities. It is legitimate and common. It is also narrower than it used to be: the tax on split income rules restrict who can benefit from amounts attributed through a trust, and the structure only works if it exists well before a sale, not after a letter of intent arrives.

Of everything in this section, this is the item least suited to being read about and most suited to a specific conversation with someone who has seen your actual cap table.