HELOC/Home Equity - divorced but ex still has title claim

[Cristin Andrews]

I have 95% of my primary residence paid off (200k equity) and am looking at a HELOC or Cash out Refi to invest in real estate and also thinking about paying off the remaining 5% with these funds so I only have one payment. I am a high income earner with no other debt so DTI is not an issue. I'm leaning towards HELOC as I anticipate drawing 50k chunks of money at a time but am concerned about rising interest rates and the variable nature of HELOC rates.

Also, I started a refinance a few years back when rates got really low and was told that because my divorce docs awarding me the house did not have the full and complete block address that my ex still had a claim to the property and would have to come to signing (amicable divorce so he was willing to do that). Things got busy and I never completed the refi. I’m not sure how his claim might come into play in this situation. Does anyone know steps I can take independently to remove him from the title? Can we just sign and file something somewhere? How do I determine the correct description for that document. The one in the divorce decree was taken directly from the property closing documents.   I bought the house on my own but he acquired right to it as we are in a community property state and we were married at the time of purchase. 

Given this situation does a HELOC or cash out refi make more sense?

I appreciate your input. 

Cristin