Divorce - refi primary options

[David Yamamoto]

So, going through the big D and obviously this has turned things upside down for me... I am staying in the primary residence, wife is moving out and keeping our single SFR out of state investment property. So far things have been very amicable.

So - my question - my current mortgage holder gave me two options to refi and remove my wife's name from the loan both keep the current 4.x% rate but one can be done within 45 days and the loan starts again at 30 years.
The other option, an assumption process, takes 4-6 months, retains the 4.x% rate but keeps the life of the loan at the current 24 months.

I'll be rolling a HELOC into the loan.

My question is:  the longer term of 30 years will lower the monthly outlay a little bit and speed the process of getting my wife's name off the loan.  The 24 year option keeps the term of the loan shorter, raises the monthly outlay a little bit and delays getting my wife off the loan by a few months.  

Is there any benefit of one option over the other?  Perhaps tax wise or ?? 

Thank you for any insight, it is much appreciated!

David.

[Chris Rich]

I think it's tough to answer that for you.  What is the difference in monthly payment on keeping the 24 years compared to resetting to 30 years? Also depends on your school of thought.  I personally like the lower monthly payment because you can always make an extra principal payment a year and knock down the life of the loan anyway, but you're not obligated to the higher payment.