Produce the corporate chain document by document: the sale agreement, the holding company's bank statements, the original shareholder-loan agreement and the board resolution repaying it, then the personal account statements and the wire. Each transfer needs both sides of the movement.
Every entity the money touched gets its own folder
Corporate structures common in family businesses create documentary gaps when nobody wrote down the loan. Start with the original shareholder loan: when the couple advanced funds to the company, from what source, and whether it appears in the financial statements as due to shareholders. Add the sale: agreement, closing statement, and the buyer's payment landing in the holding company's account. Add the repayment: a resolution authorising it, the statement showing it leave the company, and the statement showing it arrive personally. If some proceeds instead came out as dividends, include the dividend resolution and the tax slips. Then the wire to the escrow. Hypothetical example: an East Hants family's accountant recorded the shareholder loan only in year-end adjustments; the file needs those working papers, a signed explanation from the accountant, and the corresponding tax filings, because a repayment with no documented loan looks like an unexplained corporate withdrawal.
Hypothetical example: an East Hants offshore-safety-training company owner uses sale proceeds after a corporate share sale and a shareholder-loan repayment. The first review should draw each account-to-account movement with date, amount, source document, and tax record beside it. Share certificates, the sale agreement, board resolution, loan ledger, bank statements, and returns settle the chain. If a transfer passes through a joint account, retain records for both holders and explain why. Reconstructing a missing loan only after a request for evidence is much harder than documenting it before funds move.