Investments In Equity Method Investees (Details) (USD $)	9 Months Ended
Jul. 31, 2013	Oct. 31, 2012
Schedule Of Equity Method Investments [Line Items]
Total equity method sponsored funds	$ 89,492,000	$ 66,558,000
Private Equity Partnership [Member]
Schedule Of Equity Method Investments [Line Items]
Equity method investment ownership percentage	7.00%	7.00%
Equity method investment aggregate cost	5,000,000	9,800,000
Eaton Vance Atlanta Capital Select Equity Fund [Member]
Schedule Of Equity Method Investments [Line Items]
Equity method investment ownership percentage	39.00%
Equity method investment aggregate cost	23,835,000
Eaton Vance Hexavest Global Equity Fund [Member]
Schedule Of Equity Method Investments [Line Items]
Equity method investment ownership percentage	35.00%
Equity method investment aggregate cost	23,308,000
Eaton Vance Real Estate Fund [Member]
Schedule Of Equity Method Investments [Line Items]
Equity method investment ownership percentage	39.00%	48.00%
Equity method investment aggregate cost	13,465,000	16,494,000
Eaton Vance Municipal Opportunities Fund [Member]
Schedule Of Equity Method Investments [Line Items]
Equity method investment ownership percentage	32.00%
Equity method investment aggregate cost	10,250,000
Eaton Vance Focused Value Opportunities Fund [Member]
Schedule Of Equity Method Investments [Line Items]
Equity method investment ownership percentage	39.00%
Equity method investment aggregate cost	6,609,000
Eaton Vance Tax-Advantaged Bond Strategies Long Term Fund [Member]
Schedule Of Equity Method Investments [Line Items]
Equity method investment ownership percentage	28.00%	31.00%
Equity method investment aggregate cost	5,609,000	10,346,000
Eaton Vance Focused Growth Opportunities Fund [Member]
Schedule Of Equity Method Investments [Line Items]
Equity method investment ownership percentage	41.00%
Equity method investment aggregate cost	6,416,000
Eaton Vance Richard Bernstein All Asset Strategy Fund [Member]
Schedule Of Equity Method Investments [Line Items]
Equity method investment ownership percentage		44.00%
Equity method investment aggregate cost		23,341,000
AGF Floating Rate Income Fund [Member]
Schedule Of Equity Method Investments [Line Items]
Equity method investment ownership percentage		21.00%
Equity method investment aggregate cost		15,334,000
Parametric Structured Currency Fund [Member]
Schedule Of Equity Method Investments [Line Items]
Equity method investment ownership percentage		33.00%
Equity method investment aggregate cost		1,043,000
Hexavest [Member]
Schedule Of Equity Method Investments [Line Items]
Equity method investment ownership percentage	49.00%	49.00%
Equity method investment aggregate cost	176,600,000	181,200,000
Equity method investment underlying equity in net assets	5,000,000	3,400,000
Intangible assets net excluding goodwill, equity in investee	39,700,000	42,700,000
Goodwill, equity in investee	142,600,000	146,600,000
Deferred tax liability, equity in investee	$ 10,700,000	$ 11,500,000
Additional interest that may be purchased by the company	26.00%
Estimated useful life on Hexavest finite-lived intangible assets	17 years

Additional interest that maybe purchased by the Company in future periods.

No definition available.

Name:	ev_AdditionalInterestThatMayBePurchasedByCompany
Namespace Prefix:	ev_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

The Company's share of deferred tax liability of its equity investee.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	ev_DeferredTaxLiabilityEquityInvestee
Namespace Prefix:	ev_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

The Company's share in goodwill of its equity investee.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	ev_GoodwillEquityInvestee
Namespace Prefix:	ev_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Useful life of Hexavest finite-lived intangible assets, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents the reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	ev_HexavestFiniteLivedIntangibleAssetUsefulLife
Namespace Prefix:	ev_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The Company's share of intangible assets excluding goodwill of its equity investee.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	ev_IntangibleAssetsNetExcludingGoodwillEquityInvestee
Namespace Prefix:	ev_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Represents the total investment in equity method sponsored funds.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	ev_TotalEquityMethodSponsoredFunds
Namespace Prefix:	ev_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

The percentage of ownership of common stock or equity participation in the investee accounted for under the equity method of accounting.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS)

-Number 159

-Paragraph 18

-Subparagraph f

-LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy.

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 323

-SubTopic 10

-Section 50

-Paragraph 3

-Subparagraph (a)(1)

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6382943&loc=d3e33918-111571

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher AICPA

-Name Accounting Principles Board Opinion (APB)

-Number 18

-Paragraph 20

-Subparagraph a (1)

-LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy.

+ Details

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- Definition

This item represents the carrying amount on the entity's balance sheet of its investment in common stock of an equity method investee. This is not an indicator of the fair value of the investment, rather it is the initial cost adjusted for the entity's share of earnings and losses of the investee, adjusted for any distributions (dividends) and other than temporary impairment (OTTI) losses recognized.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 210

-SubTopic 10

-Section S99

-Paragraph 1

-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.12)

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 323

-SubTopic 10

-Section 45

-Paragraph 1

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=16385135&loc=d3e33749-111570

+ Details

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Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

This item represents the entity's ownership percentage in the investee multiplied by the investee's total equity.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 323

-SubTopic 10

-Section 50

-Paragraph 3

-Subparagraph (a)(3)

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6382943&loc=d3e33918-111571

+ Details

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Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Details

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