Preneed Funeral Activities Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities (Details) (Funeral [Member], USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	6 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	$ 944,735	$ 954,925
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	76,758	69,555
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(49,886)	(46,507)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	971,607	977,973
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 [Member] | US Treasury Securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	106,885	105,594
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	1,566	5,072
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(4,619)	(880)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	103,832	109,786
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 [Member] | Foreign Government Debt Securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	105,332	110,399
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	218	861
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(647)	(113)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	104,903	111,147
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 [Member] | Corporate Debt Securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	50,908	51,611
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	2,449	2,531
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(740)	(623)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	52,617	53,519
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 [Member] | Residential Mortgage Backed Securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	2,592	3,123
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	25	57
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(23)	(8)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	2,594	3,172
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 [Member] | Asset-backed Securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	128	129
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	1	3
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	0	0
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	129	132
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 [Member] | Preferred Stock securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	4,297	3,603
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	431	211
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(26)	(103)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	4,702	3,711
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 [Member] | US Common Stock Securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	219,137	230,971
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	50,352	38,514
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(5,374)	(6,903)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	264,115	262,582
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 [Member] | Canada Common Stock Securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	23,642	23,284
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	2,639	2,598
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(1,589)	(1,271)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	24,692	24,611
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 [Member] | Other International Common Stock Securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	22,914	18,089
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	2,737	1,874
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(1,024)	(658)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	24,627	19,305
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 [Member] | Equity Funds [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	140,392	145,589
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	9,582	10,097
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(7,126)	(6,728)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	142,848	148,958
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 [Member] | Fixed Income Funds [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	235,078	225,365
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	3,714	7,314
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(20,034)	(10,252)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	218,758	222,427
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 [Member] | Private Equity Funds [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	32,220	36,626
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	2,758	221
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(8,645)	(18,968)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	26,333	17,879
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 [Member] | Other Investments [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	1,210	542
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	286	202
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(39)	0
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	$ 1,457	$ 744