Commitments and Contingencies	6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2015
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]
Commitments and Contingencies	Commitments and Contingencies Qualification of Life Products In the first quarter of 2015, we announced that we identified that a substantial portion of the life insurance policies issued by our subsidiary insurance companies failed to qualify for the favorable U.S. federal income tax treatment afforded by Sections 7702 and 7702A of the Internal Revenue Code ("IRC") of 1986. This tax code section allows for qualifying products sold to clients to have favorable tax treatment such as the death benefit is not taxable. By identifying certain products that we have sold with the intention of this favorable tax treatment but in fact they do not qualify under the IRC rules, our policyholders may now be subject to additional tax liabilities. The policies at issue were primarily sold to non-U.S. citizens residing abroad. Based upon a review of the options available to the Company we have determined we will not remediate our endowments and endowment-like products we have sold to non-U.S. citizens. We do intend to remediate the domestic products we have sold to U.S. citizens. In addition, as part of our continuing review we identified in July of 2015 certain annuity contracts which do not contain qualifying language under IRC 72(s) as intended that would have provided for favorable tax treatment of the annuities. This issue affects both our domestic and international contract holders. Failure of these policies to qualify under Sections 7702, 7702A and 72(s) has resulted in additional expenses as described below. The products have been and continue to be appropriately reported under U.S. GAAP for financial reporting. The failure of these policies to qualify under Sections 7702 and 7702A resulted in additional expense recorded as of December 31, 2014 of $11.4 million, after tax, related to projected IRS toll charges and fees of $10.1 million as well as claims liability for past claims and reserves increases to bring policies into compliance totaling $1.3 million. The failure of the annuities to qualify under 72(s) resulted in $2.5 million additional pretax expense recorded as of June 30, 2015 related to projected IRS toll charges. These toll charges are not deductible for tax. The range of financial estimates relative to these issues is $13.9 million to $46.6 million, after tax. This estimated range includes projected toll charges and fees as well as increased claims liability for past claims and reserve increases to bring policies into compliance and other probable liabilities resulting from this tax compliance matter. Our estimated range reflects the uncertainties with respect to the required course of action and other matters unknown at this time. Currently, management believes there is not a specific estimable amount for these probable liabilities and expenses which is more likely than other specific amounts within our estimated range. The process of determining our estimated range was a complex undertaking including insight from external consultants and involved management’s judgment based upon a variety of factors known at the time. The Company recorded the low end of the range. In addition, we have recorded expenses of $0.8 million in 2015 and it is reasonably possible that we may incur additional costs associated with these issues in the current year related to system remediation and consulting costs. We believe these additional costs could be $0.5 million to $0.8 million but due to the uncertainty of actions we cannot reasonably estimate these costs with any reliability. Actual amounts incurred may exceed this estimate and will be recorded as they become probable and can be reasonably estimated. Compliance As part of our efforts to review and improve our compliance controls, we discovered potential non-compliance with Treasury regulations such as Section 7702, described earlier, as well as unrelated applicable Bank Secrecy Act requirements. Although we are not yet able to determine the extent of any oversights or estimate any other potential loss, we cannot assure you that the impact of any non-compliance will not have a material impact upon the company. Unclaimed Property Contingencies The Company is currently performing an internal audit related to unclaimed property for all legal reporting entities. Based upon internal findings to date our exposure appears to be primarily in the state of Louisiana, related to conversion processes surrounding the SPLIC acquisition. The Company had been informed by the Louisiana Department of Treasury, Arkansas Auditor of State and the Texas State Comptroller, that they authorized an audit of Citizens, Inc. and its affiliates for compliance with unclaimed property laws. This audit is being conducted by Verus Financial LLC on behalf of the states. These internal and external audits may result in additional payments to beneficiaries, additional escheatment of funds deemed abandoned under state laws, administrative penalties, interest, and changes to the Company's procedures for the identification and escheatment of abandoned property. The Company believes additional escheatment of funds in Arkansas or Texas will not be material to our financial condition or results. However, additional escheatment of funds in Louisiana, which may subsequently be deemed abandoned under the Louisiana Department of Treasury’s audit, could be substantial for SPLIC if the Louisiana Department of Treasury chooses to disregard recent unclaimed property litigation in favor of the insurance industry. At this time, the Company is not able to estimate any of these possible amounts. For more information about the risks related to these external unclaimed property audits please see the Risk Factor in Item 1A titled “We are a defendant in lawsuits, which may adversely affect our financial condition and detract from the time our management is able to devote to our business, and we are subject to risks related to litigation and regulatory matters.” Litigation From time to time we are subject to legal and regulatory actions relating to our business. We defend all claims vigorously. As a result, we incur defense costs, including attorneys' fees, other direct litigation costs and the expenditure of management time that otherwise would be devoted to our business.

Commitments and Contingencies

Qualification of Life Products

In the first quarter of 2015, we announced that we identified that a substantial portion of the life insurance policies issued by our subsidiary insurance companies failed to qualify for the favorable U.S. federal income tax treatment afforded by Sections 7702 and 7702A of the Internal Revenue Code ("IRC") of 1986. This tax code section allows for qualifying products sold to clients to have favorable tax treatment such as the death benefit is not taxable. By identifying certain products that we have sold with the intention of this favorable tax treatment but in fact they do not qualify under the IRC rules, our policyholders may now be subject to additional tax liabilities. The policies at issue were primarily sold to non-U.S. citizens residing abroad. Based upon a review of the options available to the Company we have determined we will not remediate our endowments and endowment-like products we have sold to non-U.S. citizens. We do intend to remediate the domestic products we have sold to U.S. citizens. In addition, as part of our continuing review we identified in July of 2015 certain annuity contracts which do not contain qualifying language under IRC 72(s) as intended that would have provided for favorable tax treatment of the annuities. This issue affects both our domestic and international contract holders. Failure of these policies to qualify under Sections 7702, 7702A and 72(s) has resulted in additional expenses as described below. The products have been and continue to be appropriately reported under U.S. GAAP for financial reporting.

The failure of these policies to qualify under Sections 7702 and 7702A resulted in additional expense recorded as of December 31, 2014 of $11.4 million, after tax, related to projected IRS toll charges and fees of $10.1 million as well as claims liability for past claims and reserves increases to bring policies into compliance totaling $1.3 million. The failure of the annuities to qualify under 72(s) resulted in $2.5 million additional pretax expense recorded as of June 30, 2015 related to projected IRS toll charges. These toll charges are not deductible for tax. The range of financial estimates relative to these issues is $13.9 million to $46.6 million, after tax. This estimated range includes projected toll charges and fees as well as increased claims liability for past claims and reserve increases to bring policies into compliance and other probable liabilities resulting from this tax compliance matter. Our estimated range reflects the uncertainties with respect to the required course of action and other matters unknown at this time. Currently, management believes there is not a specific estimable amount for these probable liabilities and expenses which is more likely than other specific amounts within our estimated range. The process of determining our estimated range was a complex undertaking including insight from external consultants and involved management’s judgment based upon a variety of factors known at the time. The Company recorded the low end of the range. In addition, we have recorded expenses of $0.8 million in 2015 and it is reasonably possible that we may incur additional costs associated with these issues in the current year related to system remediation and consulting costs. We believe these additional costs could be $0.5 million to $0.8 million but due to the uncertainty of actions we cannot reasonably estimate these costs with any reliability. Actual amounts incurred may exceed this estimate and will be recorded as they become probable and can be reasonably estimated.

Compliance

As part of our efforts to review and improve our compliance controls, we discovered potential non-compliance with Treasury regulations such as Section 7702, described earlier, as well as unrelated applicable Bank Secrecy Act requirements. Although we are not yet able to determine the extent of any oversights or estimate any other potential loss, we cannot assure you that the impact of any non-compliance will not have a material impact upon the company.

Unclaimed Property Contingencies

The Company is currently performing an internal audit related to unclaimed property for all legal reporting entities. Based upon internal findings to date our exposure appears to be primarily in the state of Louisiana, related to conversion processes surrounding the SPLIC acquisition. The Company had been informed by the Louisiana Department of Treasury, Arkansas Auditor of State and the Texas State Comptroller, that they authorized an audit of Citizens, Inc. and its affiliates for compliance with unclaimed property laws. This audit is being conducted by Verus Financial LLC on behalf of the states.

These internal and external audits may result in additional payments to beneficiaries, additional escheatment of funds deemed abandoned under state laws, administrative penalties, interest, and changes to the Company's procedures for the identification and escheatment of abandoned property. The Company believes additional escheatment of funds in Arkansas or Texas will not be material to our financial condition or results. However, additional escheatment of funds in Louisiana, which may subsequently be deemed abandoned under the Louisiana Department of Treasury’s audit, could be substantial for SPLIC if the Louisiana Department of Treasury chooses to disregard recent unclaimed property litigation in favor of the insurance industry. At this time, the Company is not able to estimate any of these possible amounts. For more information about the risks related to these external unclaimed property audits please see the Risk Factor in Item 1A titled “We are a defendant in lawsuits, which may adversely affect our financial condition and detract from the time our management is able to devote to our business, and we are subject to risks related to litigation and regulatory matters.”

Litigation

From time to time we are subject to legal and regulatory actions relating to our business. We defend all claims vigorously. As a result, we incur defense costs, including attorneys' fees, other direct litigation costs and the expenditure of management time that otherwise would be devoted to our business.