Preneed Funeral Activities Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities (Details) (Funeral [Member], USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	9 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	$ 947,314	$ 954,925
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	98,291	69,555
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(40,285)	(46,507)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,005,320	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	96,240	105,594
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	1,699	5,072
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(4,499)	(880)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	93,440	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	105,784	110,399
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	48	861
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(1,356)	(113)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	104,476	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	50,520	51,611
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	2,864	2,531
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(739)	(623)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	52,645	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	2,362	3,123
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	20	57
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(24)	(8)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	2,358	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		129
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains		3
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses		0
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value		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	4,649	3,603
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	547	211
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(50)	(103)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	5,146	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	225,447	230,971
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	61,091	38,514
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(3,989)	(6,903)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	282,549	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	23,793	23,284
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	2,912	2,598
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(1,635)	(1,271)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	25,070	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	18,444	18,089
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	4,065	1,874
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(509)	(658)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	22,000	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	175,783	145,589
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	17,256	10,097
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(2,786)	(6,728)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	190,253	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	212,275	225,365
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	3,943	7,314
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(17,339)	(10,252)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	198,879	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	30,811	36,626
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	3,533	221
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(7,359)	(18,968)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	26,985	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	1,206	542
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	313	202
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	0	0
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	$ 1,519	$ 744