Problem was, the practice hadn't been permitted for 30 years.

So Bush set out to change the law.

She enlisted the aid of Big Island Rep. Virginia Isbell and Sen. Andy Levin, who drafted the legislation.

The upshot: It's now legal to bury relatives in private residential or agricultural plots.

The burial bill, passed by the Legislature last session and signed into law by Gov. Ben Cayetano June 12, was aimed at perpetuating the Hawaiian tradition of burying loved ones in family plots.

Bush was the main proponent of the new law, which met little resistance during hearings last spring.

Act 145 permits home burial of family members provided that plots cannot be sold or transferred to anyone except when a "substantial portion" of the property changes hands.

It also stipulates that subsequent disinterment be conducted under the laws regulating cemeteries.

The new law clearly does not relate to most people, Isbell said.

"People who are planning to come and go are not going to bury auntie in the back yard," Isbell said. Technically, they could. "But technically, who would want to devalue their property?" she asked.

Noenoe Tom of the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs said potential property buyers are protected by the so-

called seller disclosure law that requires those selling land to reveal "any material fact" about the parcel. Licensed real estate agents must also by law divulge all material facts about property they represent, Tom said.

Those wishing to bury a family member on their property must also obtain a permit from the state Department of Health and follow proper procedures, Tom said.

"This doesn't change the system, just the end result," Isbell said.

Hearings on the bill revealed that the practice poses no health risks, Tom said.

While morticians were silent on the bill as it made its way through the Legislature, Hilo undertaker Clifford Dodo yesterday said the practice has its drawbacks.

"Despite the multitude of problems it will create down the line, it passed," he said. "I don't think it's a big deal really. Let's say a developer would want to build a hotel or resort. It becomes a problem because you'd have to get permission from each and every descendant."

Dodo said the Big Island is "littered with these itty-bitty cemeteries."

But he said he doesn't believe the new law will cause a proliferation in home burials.

For Bush, whose family has owned four acres in Kona for more than a century, it's a matter of fulfilling her father's wishes.

"My dad is from Kealakekua, born and raised," she said. "It's my dad's family property. This is where my great-grandparents are buried. I knew my dad wanted to be buried there."

Unfortunately, Sylvester Keliikipi, a retired Kona police sergeant, died before the new law took effect, Bush said. She's planning on moving her father's and mother's remains from a cemetery onto the family property.

"This is home," she said.