Basis Of Presentation And Significant Accounting Policies (Policy)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2017

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Principles Of Consolidation

Principles of Consolidation – The accompanying unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements include the accounts and operations of Investors Title Company and its subsidiaries, and have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles for interim financial information, with the instructions to Form 10-Q and with Article 10 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in annual financial statements have been condensed or omitted. Earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests in majority-owned title insurance agencies are recorded in the Consolidated Statements of Income. Noncontrolling interests representing the portion of equity not related to the Company's ownership interests are recorded in separate sections of the Consolidated Balance Sheets. All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

In the opinion of management, all adjustments considered necessary for a fair presentation of the financial position, results of operations and cash flows of the Company in the accompanying unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements have been included. All such adjustments are of a normal recurring nature. Operating results for the quarter ended March 31, 2017 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending December 31, 2017.

Reclassifications

Reclassification – Certain 2016 amounts in the accompanying unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements have been reclassified to conform to the 2017 classifications. These reclassifications had no effect on stockholders’ equity or net income as previously reported.

Use Of Estimates And Assumptions

Use of Estimates and Assumptions – The preparation of the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates and assumptions used.

Subsequent Events

Subsequent Events – The Company has evaluated and concluded that there were no material subsequent events requiring adjustment or disclosure to its Consolidated Financial Statements.

Recently Issued Accounting Standards

Recently Issued Accounting Standards –In March 2017, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update ("ASU") 2017-08, Receivables - Nonrefundable Fees and Other Costs (Subtopic 310-20): Premium Amortization on Purchased Callable Debt Securities. ASU 2017-08 is intended to enhance the accounting for the amortization of premiums for purchased callable debt securities. Specifically, the ASU shortens the amortization period for certain investments in callable debt securities purchased at a premium by requiring that the premium be amortized to the earliest call date. The amendments do not require an accounting change for securities held at a discount; the discount continues to be amortized to maturity. The update is effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2018, and interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact that the recently issued accounting standard will have on the Company's financial position and results of operations, but does not expect it to have a material impact.

In March 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-07, Compensation - Retirement Benefits (Topic 715). This update requires entities to (1) disaggregate the current service cost component from the other components of net benefit cost (the "other components") and present it with other current compensation costs for related employees in the income statement and (2) present the other components elsewhere in the income statement and outside of income from operations if that subtotal is presented. In addition, the ASU requires entities to disclose the income statement lines that contain the other components if they are not presented on appropriately described separate lines. The update is effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2017, and interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted as of the beginning of an annual period for which financial statements (interim or annual) have not been issued or made available for issuance. The Company is currently evaluating the impact that the recently issued accounting standard will have on the Company's financial position and results of operations, but does not expect it to have a material impact.

In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-04, Intangibles - Goodwill and Other (Topic 350). This update removes the requirement to compare the implied fair value of goodwill with its carrying amount as part of step 2 of the goodwill impairment test. As a result, under the ASU, an entity should perform its annual, or interim, goodwill impairment test by comparing the fair value of a reporting unit with its carrying amount and should recognize an impairment charge for the amount by which the carrying amount exceeds the reporting unit’s fair value; however, the loss recognized should not exceed the total amount of goodwill allocated to that reporting unit. In addition, the ASU clarifies that an entity should consider income tax effects from any tax deductible goodwill on the carrying amount of the reporting unit when measuring the goodwill impairment loss, if applicable. This update is effective for annual or any interim goodwill impairment tests in fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019. Early adoption is permitted for interim or annual goodwill impairment tests performed on testing dates after January 1, 2017. None of these amendments would have an impact on the Company's financial position or results of operation.

In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-13, Financial Instruments - Credit Losses (Topic 326). ASU 2016-13 is intended to provide financial statement users with more decision-useful information about the expected credit losses on financial instruments and other commitments to extend credit held by a reporting entity at each reporting date. The update broadens the information that an entity must consider in developing its expected credit loss estimates, and is meant to better reflect an entity’s current estimate of all expected credit losses. In addition, this update amends the accounting for credit losses on available-for-sale debt securities and purchased financial assets with credit deterioration. The update is effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2019, and interim periods within those fiscal years.  Early adoption is permitted as of fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods within those fiscal years. The Company is currently evaluating the impact that the recently issued accounting standard will have on the Company's financial position and results of operations, but does not expect it to have a material impact. Currently, the Company's potential credit losses under this accounting standard relate to available-for-sale securities. The Company does not believe that the risk of credit losses, based on current available-for-sale security holdings, is material to the financial statements as a whole. Please refer to Note 6 for further information about the Company's investments.

In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-09, Compensation - Stock Compensation (Topic 718). ASU 2016-09 updated guidance to simplify several aspects of the accounting for share-based payment transactions, including the income tax consequences, classification of awards as either equity or liabilities and classification on the statement of cash flows.  The update was effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2016, including interim periods within that reporting period.  The Company adopted this update on January 1, 2017 with no material impact on the Company's financial position and results of operations. All excess tax benefits and tax deficiencies will now be recognized as income tax expense or benefit in the income statement. In addition, a reclassification was made on the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows, as companies are now required to present excess tax benefits as an operating activity on the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows rather than as a financing activity. The Company began recording all excess tax benefits and tax deficiencies as an income tax expense or benefit on a prospective basis. The amendments relating to the presentation of excess tax benefits within the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows was adopted by the Company retrospectively.

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842). ASU 2016-02 updated guidance to improve financial reporting for leasing transactions. The core principle of the guidance is that lessees will be required to recognize assets and liabilities on the balance sheet for all leases with terms of more than twelve months. A lessee would recognize a liability to make lease payments and a right-of-use asset representing its right to use the underlying asset for the lease term. The accounting applied by a lessor is largely unchanged from current GAAP, with some targeted improvements. Disclosures will be required by lessees and lessors to meet the objective of enabling users of financial statements to assess the amount, timing, and uncertainty of cash flows arising from leases. In transition, both lessees and lessors are required to recognize and measure leases at the beginning of the earliest period presented using a modified retrospective approach. The update is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption was permitted for all entities upon issuance. The Company is currently evaluating the impact that the recently issued accounting standard will have on the Company's financial position and results of operations, but does not expect it to have a material impact. As of December 31, 2016, future minimum lease payments with terms of more than twelve months were approximately $2.5 million.

In January 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-01, Financial Instruments - Overall (Subtopic 825-10): Recognition and Measurement of Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities. ASU 2016-01 updated guidance to enhance the reporting model for financial instruments. Among the main principles of the guidance applicable to the Company are provisions to: require equity investments, except those accounted for under the equity method of accounting or those that result in consolidation of the investee, to be measured at fair value with changes in fair value recognized in net income; simplify the impairment assessment of equity investments without readily determinable fair values by requiring a qualitative assessment to identify impairment, noting that when a qualitative assessment indicates that impairment exists that an entity is required to measure the investment at fair value; eliminate the requirement to disclose methods and significant assumptions used to estimate the fair value for financial instruments measured at amortized cost; require entities to use the exit price notion when measuring the fair value of financial instruments for disclosure purposes; require separate presentation of financial assets and financial liabilities by measuring category and form of financial asset on the balance sheet or accompanying notes to the financial statements; and clarify that an entity should evaluate the need for a valuation allowance on a deferred tax asset related to available-for-sale securities in combination with the entity’s other deferred tax assets. The update is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted for the provision requiring entities to recognize the fair value change from instrument-specific credit risk in other comprehensive income for financial liabilities measured using the fair value option in Accounting Standards Codification ("ASC") 825, and can be early adopted for financial statements of annual or interim periods that have not yet been issued or made available for issuance. The Company will be required to apply the update by means of a cumulative-effect adjustment to the balance sheet as of the beginning of the fiscal year of adoption, with the amendments related to equity securities without readily determinable fair values being applied prospectively to equity investments that exist as of the date of adoption. The guidance is expected to have a material impact on the Company’s financial condition and results of operations once effective, primarily resulting from fluctuations in security exchanges or markets.

In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606). ASU 2014-09 updated guidance to improve the comparability of revenue recognition practices for entities that either enter into contracts with customers to transfer goods or services or enter into contracts for the transfer of nonfinancial assets, unless those contracts are within the scope of other standards such as insurance contracts or lease standards. The core principle of the guidance is that an entity should recognize revenue to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. For public entities, this update originally became effective for interim and annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2016. In August 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-14, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606): Deferral of the Effective Date. ASU 2015-14 updated guidance to defer the effective date of the standard by one year. Early adoption is not permitted, although public entities are permitted to elect to adopt the amendments on the original effective date. Currently, the Company's only revenue stream impacted by the issued accounting standard is like-kind exchange services revenue produced by the Company's subsidiary, Investors Title Exchange Corporation ("ITEC"). Like-kind exchange proceeds are not considered material to the Company's financial condition and results of operations.