Cemetery Perpetual Care Trusts Level 3 Activities (Details) (Cemetery Perpetual Care [Member], USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2012		Mar. 31, 2011
Cemetery Perpetual Care [Member]
Fair Value, Assets Measured on Recurring Basis, Unobservable Input Reconciliation, Calculation [Roll Forward]
Fair market value, beginning balance	$ 17,739		$ 17,089
Net unrealized (losses) gains included in Accumulated other comprehensive income	839	[1]	6,111	[1]
Net realized gains (losses) included in Other income, net(2)	(57)	[2]	(27)	[2]
Sales	(26)		(44)
Contributions	1,390		1
Distributions and other	(634)		(2,871)
Fair market value, ending balance	$ 19,251		$ 20,259

[1] All unrealized (losses) gains recognized in Accumulated other comprehensive income for our cemetery perpetual care trust investments are offset by a corresponding reclassification in Accumulated other comprehensive income to Care trusts’ corpus. See Note 7 for further information related to our Care trusts’ corpus.

[2] All gains (losses) recognized in Other income, net for our cemetery perpetual care trust investments are offset by a corresponding reclassification in Other income, net to Care trusts’ corpus. See Note 7 for further information related to our Care trusts’ corpus.