N.D. Cent. Code § 47-18-18

In order to select a homestead the claimant shall execute and acknowledge, in the same manner as a grant of real property is acknowledged, a declaration of homestead, and file the declaration for record. A claim of a homestead by a debtor who received a discharge is a declaration of homestead. Filing for record in the recorder's office of the county where the homestead is located a certified copy with the legal description of the discharge constitutes notice that the property is a homestead and exempt from judgments.