Notes Payable (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended				12 Months Ended											12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012 Rate Covenant	Dec. 31, 2011 Covenant Rate	Dec. 31, 2011 London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Federal Funds Rate [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Minimum [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Maximum [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Long-term Debt [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Long-term Debt [Member] London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Long-term Debt [Member] Eurodollar Reserve [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Long-term Debt [Member] Adjusted London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) [Member] [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Long-term Debt [Member] Federal Funds Rate [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Long-term Debt [Member] Minimum [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Long-term Debt [Member] Minimum [Member] London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Long-term Debt [Member] Maximum [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Long-term Debt [Member] Maximum [Member] London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Bankers Life of Louisiana [Member] Minimum [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Southern Financial Life Insurance Company [Member] Minimum [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Insurance Company of the South [Member] Minimum [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Lyndon Southern Insurance Company [Member] Minimum [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Life of the South Insurance Company [Member] Minimum [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 initial commitment fee [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Fixed Charge Covenant Ratio		4.50
Line of Credit Facility, Initiation Date							Aug. 02, 2012
Maximum balance allowed on revolving credit facility	$ 125,000,000	$ 85,000,000					$ 125,000,000
Debt Instrument, Basis Spread on Variable Rate			1.00%	0.50%			1.75%	1.00%	100.00%	2.75%	0.50%	1.00%	2.00%	2.00%	3.00%
Line of Credit Facility, Revolving Credit Conversion to Term Loan, Description							50.0
Line of Credit Facility, Current Borrowing Capacity							75,000,000
Line of Credit Facility, Expiration Date							Aug. 02, 2017
Line of credit, incremental amount available							50,000,000
Line of Credit Facility, Unused Capacity, Commitment Fee Percentage					0.25%	0.45%															0.40%
Payments of Debt Issuance Costs	1,692,000
Line of Credit Facility, termination date							Aug. 02, 2012
Write off of Deferred Debt Issuance Cost							700,000
Covenant Requirement, total leverage ratio						3.10
Covenant Requirement, fixed charge coverage atio					2.33
Covenant Requirement, reinsurance ratio					69.00%
Covenant Requirement, RBC ratio																469.00%	2155.00%	378.00%	255.00%	386.00%
Total leverage ratio		2.45
Senior leverage ratio		2.45
Reinsurance ratio		75.00%
SunTrust Bank, N.A. - revolving credit facility, maturing June 2013	89,438,000	73,000,000
Interest rate on note payable at the end of the respective periods:	2.76%	4.59%
2013	1,250,000
2014	5,000,000
2015	5,000,000
2016	5,000,000
2017	73,188,000
Thereafter	0
Total	$ 89,438,000
Total Leverage Ratio - Well Fargo Bank, credit facility	3.10
Fixed Charge Coverage Ratio-Wells Fargo, credit facility	2.33
Reinsurance Ratio-Wells Fargo Bank, credit facility	69.00%
RBC Ratio - Bankers Life of Louisiana	469.00%
RBC Ratio - Southern Financial Life Insurance Company	2155.00%
RBC Ratio - Insurance Company of the South	378.00%
RBC Ratio - Lyndon Southern Insurance Company	255.00%
RBC Ratio - Life of the South Insurance Company	386.00%