Deferred Preneed Funeral and Cemetery Receipts Held in Trust and Care Trusts' Corpus Level 4 (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2013	Mar. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2012
Component of Other Income, Nonoperating [Line Items]
Realized gains from sales of available-for-sale securities	$ 31,729	$ 67,445
Realized losses from sales of available-for-sale securities	(4,213)	(25,733)
Impairment charges	(620)	(650)
Interest, dividend, and other ordinary income	9,435	10,199
Trust expenses and income taxes	(6,625)	(6,139)
Net trust investment income	29,706	45,122
Investment Income, Nonoperating, Effect on Deferred Preneed Receipts Held in Trust and Care Trust Corpus'	(29,706)	(45,122)
Other income, net	(984)	3,905
Total other income, net	(984)	3,905
Deferred preneed funeral and cemetery receipts held in trust, excluding accrued expenses	2,717,830		2,628,030
Accrued trust operating payables and other	(3,197)		(3,709)
Deferred preneed funeral and cemetery receipts held in trust	2,714,633		2,624,321
Care trusts’ corpus	1,127,479		1,098,752
Funeral [Member]
Component of Other Income, Nonoperating [Line Items]
Realized gains from sales of available-for-sale securities	11,371	26,011
Realized losses from sales of available-for-sale securities	(1,721)	(9,748)
Impairment charges	(200)	(344)
Interest, dividend, and other ordinary income	1,817	2,200
Trust expenses and income taxes	(2,381)	(2,569)
Net trust investment income	8,886	15,550
Investment Income, Nonoperating, Effect on Deferred Preneed Receipts Held in Trust and Care Trust Corpus'	(8,886)	(15,550)
Other income, net	0	0
Total other income, net	0	0
Deferred preneed funeral and cemetery receipts held in trust, excluding accrued expenses	1,364,367		1,337,014
Accrued trust operating payables and other	(1,229)		(1,827)
Deferred preneed funeral and cemetery receipts held in trust	1,363,138		1,335,187
Cemetery [Member]
Component of Other Income, Nonoperating [Line Items]
Realized gains from sales of available-for-sale securities	16,576	39,272
Realized losses from sales of available-for-sale securities	(2,170)	(13,770)
Impairment charges	(357)	(305)
Interest, dividend, and other ordinary income	1,529	2,276
Trust expenses and income taxes	(3,669)	(3,185)
Net trust investment income	11,909	24,288
Investment Income, Nonoperating, Effect on Deferred Preneed Receipts Held in Trust and Care Trust Corpus'	(11,909)	(24,288)
Other income, net	0	0
Total other income, net	0	0
Deferred preneed funeral and cemetery receipts held in trust, excluding accrued expenses	1,353,463		1,291,016
Accrued trust operating payables and other	(1,968)		(1,882)
Deferred preneed funeral and cemetery receipts held in trust	1,351,495		1,289,134
Cemetery Perpetual Care [Member]
Component of Other Income, Nonoperating [Line Items]
Realized gains from sales of available-for-sale securities	3,782	2,162
Realized losses from sales of available-for-sale securities	(322)	(2,215)
Impairment charges	(63)	(1)
Interest, dividend, and other ordinary income	6,089	5,723
Trust expenses and income taxes	(575)	(385)
Net trust investment income	8,911	5,284
Investment Income, Nonoperating, Effect on Deferred Preneed Receipts Held in Trust and Care Trust Corpus'	(8,911)	(5,284)
Other income, net	0	0
Total other income, net	0	0
Care trusts' corpus, excluding accrued expenses	1,128,284		1,099,580
Accrued trust operating payables and other	(805)		(828)
Care trusts’ corpus	1,127,479		1,098,752
Intersegment Elimination [Member]
Component of Other Income, Nonoperating [Line Items]
Realized gains from sales of available-for-sale securities	0	0
Realized losses from sales of available-for-sale securities	0	0
Impairment charges	0	0
Interest, dividend, and other ordinary income	0	0
Trust expenses and income taxes	0	0
Net trust investment income	0	0
Investment Income, Nonoperating, Effect on Deferred Preneed Receipts Held in Trust and Care Trust Corpus'	0	0
Other income, net	(984)	3,905
Total other income, net	$ (984)	$ 3,905