§ 57-02-02 — Abbreviations used in land descriptions

Abbreviations used in describing real estate may be as follows:
1. In all proceedings, lists, advertisements, records, notices, and documents relative to
assessing, advertising, or selling real estate for taxes or special assessments, it is
sufficient to describe such real estate by the use of initial letters, abbreviations, and
figures to designate the township, range, section, or part of section, and the number of
a lot or block.
2. Whenever the letters N., E., S., or W. are used, they must be construed to mean north,
east, south, and west, respectively.
3. Whenever there are used the initial letters N.W., S.W., N.E., or S.E., whether in capital
letters or small letters, and whether each letter is followed by a period or the two are
written connectedly without a period to signify the same to be an abbreviation of two
words, and whenever said letters are used in connection with section numbers to
designate land descriptions, and in the absence of proof to the contrary, it must be
presumed that the same are abbreviations for and mean "northwest", "southwest",
"northeast", and "southeast", respectively.
4. When two or more sets of such abbreviations are used connectedly, as for example
N.E. S.E., the same must be presumed to mean the "northeast quarter of the
southeast quarter".
5. When any such initial letters are followed with a numeral placed in the position of an
algebraic exponent, as N.W.4, S.W.4, N.E.4, or S.E.4, with the figure placed on or above
the line, the description must be taken to mean the "northwest quarter", "southwest
quarter", "northeast quarter", or "southeast quarter", respectively. The abbreviation N.2,
S.2, E.2, or W.2 must be presumed to mean the "north half", "south half", "east half", or
"west half", respectively, of the section or quarter or other portion of land designated
immediately following it.
6. Combinations of such letters and figures must be read accordingly, as S.2 N.E.4 must
be taken as intended to mean and describe the "south half of the northeast quarter",
and similar combinations of such letters and exponents must be construed accordingly.
7. In the absence of such figure placed in the position of an exponent, whenever
abbreviations N.W., S.W., N.E., or S.E. are used alone or with similar abbreviations,

they must be presumed to mean and be read as "northwest quarter", "southwest
quarter", "northeast quarter", or "southeast quarter", respectively, unless it appears
clearly from the context that another meaning is intended.
8. The abbreviation sec. must be taken as meaning "section", the letters "t" or "twp" or
"tp" must be taken to mean "township", the letters "r" or "rg" or "rge" must be taken to
mean "range", the abbreviations "b" or "blk" or "bk" must be taken to mean "block", the
abbreviations "add" or "ad" must be taken to mean "addition", and the abbreviations
"sub" or "subd" must be taken to mean "subdivision".
9. The abbreviation "do" or the characters ",," or other similar abbreviation or character,
must be construed to mean the same name, word, initial, letter, abbreviation, or figure
as the last preceding one written or the one written immediately above.
10. No description in which the foregoing abbreviations, symbols, initial letters, figures, or
characters definitely can be understood by the application of the definitions and rules
in this section may be held defective because such abbreviations are used instead of
words or figures symbolized thereby.