Preneed Funeral Activities Preneed Funeral Activities, Textuals (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2009
Insurance Commissions and Fees	$ 86,800,000	$ 68,300,000	$ 57,300,000
Funeral [Member]
Fair Value, Investments, Entities that Calculate Net Asset Value Per Share, Unfunded Commitments	11,400,000
Investment Earnings, Net	37,700,000	29,500,000	23,700,000
Other than Temporary Impairment Losses, Investments, Portion Recognized in Earnings, Net	$ 24,705,000	$ 8,135,000	$ 22,476,000

Income from agency and brokerage operations (includes sales of annuities and supplemental contracts); service charges, commissions, and fees from the sale of insurance and related services; and management fees from separate accounts, deferred annuities, and universal life products. May also include an entity's proportionate share of the income or loss before extraordinary items and other adjustments from its investments in: unconsolidated subsidiaries, associated companies, and corporate joint ventures, unincorporated joint ventures, general partnerships, and limited partnerships over which the entity exercises significant influence that are principally engaged in insurance underwriting, reinsurance, or insurance sales activities.

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The amount of other than temporary impairment (OTTI) losses on equity securities, OTTI related to credit losses on debt securities, and OTTI losses on debt securities when the entity intends to sell the securities or it is more likely than not that the entity will be required to sell the securities before recovery of its amortized cost basis. Additionally, this item includes OTTI losses recognized during the period on investments accounted for under the cost method of accounting.

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