If in any case the debtor neglects or refuses, or for any cause fails, to claim the whole or any of the exemptions to which the debtor is entitled, a spouse may make such claim or demand, select and choose the property, select and designate one of the appraisers, and do all other acts necessary in the premises the same and with like effect as the debtor might do, and if the spouse neglects, refuses, or for any cause fails so to do in whole or in part, then one of the children sixteen years of age or upwards, who is a member of the family, may do so in like manner and with like effect.
N.D.C.C. § 28-22-11