Cemetery Perpetual Care Trusts Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities (Details) (Cemetery Perpetual Care [Member], USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	Sep. 30, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	$ 968,311	$ 939,417
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	89,054	51,146
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(24,073)	(37,990)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,033,292	952,573
US Treasury Securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Fair Value Hierarchy Level	2	2
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	808	981
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	49	39
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(1)	0
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	856	1,020
Foreign Government Debt Securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Fair Value Hierarchy Level	2	2
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	29,977	29,015
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	734	686
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(102)	(43)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	30,609	29,658
Corporate Debt Securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Fair Value Hierarchy Level	2	2
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	19,597	21,197
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	548	528
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(118)	(134)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	20,027	21,591
Residential Mortgage Backed Securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Fair Value Hierarchy Level	2	2
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	1,562	1,662
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	51	53
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(1)	(13)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,612	1,702
Asset-backed Securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Fair Value Hierarchy Level	2	2
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	161	83
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	9	2
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	0	(1)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	170	84
Preferred Stock securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Fair Value Hierarchy Level	2	2
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	5,641	6,475
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	1	18
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(828)	(1,146)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	4,814	5,347
US Common Stock Securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Fair Value Hierarchy Level	1	1
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	158,941	141,880
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	23,050	14,443
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(3,633)	(9,113)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	178,358	147,210
Canada Common Stock Securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Fair Value Hierarchy Level	1	1
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	9,150	13,374
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	1,341	1,483
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(860)	(1,423)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	9,631	13,434
Other International Common Stock Securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Fair Value Hierarchy Level	1	1
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	16,256	16,836
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	1,340	1,314
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(263)	(1,421)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	17,333	16,729
Equity Funds [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Fair Value Hierarchy Level	1	1
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	18,036	21,801
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	2,600	1,598
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(132)	(579)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	20,504	22,820
Fixed Income Funds [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Fair Value Hierarchy Level	1	1
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	674,118	654,883
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	57,906	29,758
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(984)	(9,402)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	731,040	675,239
Private Equity Funds [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Fair Value Hierarchy Level	3	3
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	24,600	23,212
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	337	374
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(14,052)	(12,737)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	10,885	10,849
Other Investments [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Fair Value Hierarchy Level	3	3
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	9,464	8,018
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	1,088	850
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(3,099)	(1,978)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	$ 7,453	$ 6,890