Nature of Operations Level 4 (Details) (USD $)	May 29, 2013	Apr. 30, 2013 Cemetery [Member]	Apr. 30, 2013 Funeral [Member]
Pending Acquisition, Outstanding Long-term Debt	$ 331,600,000
Pending Acquisition, Transaction Costs	1,465,246,636
Pending Acquisition, Location Count		141	217
Pending Acquisition, Share Price	$ 13.25

Amount of direct costs to be incurred from the business combination including legal, accounting, and other costs incurred to consummate the business acquisition.

No definition available.

Name:	sci_PendingAcquisitionTransactionCosts
Namespace Prefix:	sci_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant