[missouri] My Mom Is Hiding My $12k Violin And Refusing To Give It Back. Do I Actually Own It?

I’m 20. The violin is currently in St. Louis, Missouri.

In middle school, my parents bought me a full-size violin from a Violin Shop for around $8–9k. It was purchased in March 2020 and is now insured/appraised around $12k.

My parents had been physically separated for years but were still legally married. Their divorce was finalized in 2022.

The violin was bought because I had gotten better and needed a full-size instrument. I went to the shop with my dad, picked it out, and I was the only person who ever played it. Everyone in the family always called it “my violin.” I kept it with my belongings, took it between homes, school, lessons, etc., and never needed permission to use or take it.

There was never a formal statement like “we are gifting this to you,” though. I was a minor and my parents were paying for my violin education and pushing me to practice.

We recently found more paperwork. My dad found an old check showing he personally paid $4,500 to the violin shop on March 4, 2020 toward the violin. The rest appears to have come from some kind of lease/trade credit from prior instruments. His name is also on the current insurance.

Some of my earlier childhood violins were leased from the same violin shop, so I’m not assuming those were actually mine or my parents’ property.

The current violin was not mentioned in my parents’ 2022 divorce settlement.

A few years ago I quit playing, and the violin sat at my dad’s house. Nobody ever discussed me giving it back or abandoning it. My dad has always considered it my violin and wants me to have it.

Recently I decided to start playing again and asked my brother to bring it to me in Chicago. He took it from my dad’s house but left it at my mom’s before traveling because he didn’t want to carry it.

Now my mom has hidden it and refuses to give it back. She has not really claimed it is hers. Her reasons are that taking a $12k violin to Chicago is risky and that she worries I might sell it. I’ve explicitly asked for it back by text.

My questions:

1. Could this legally be considered a gift to me even without anyone formally saying so?

2. Does years of exclusive possession/use and everyone calling it “my violin” matter?

3. If it was marital property but omitted from the 2022 divorce settlement, who owns it now?

4. If I legally own it and my mom refuses to return it, would replevin be the appropriate way to recover the violin?

Thanks so much.

location: St. Louis, MO