Preneed Cemetery Activities Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities (Details) (Cemetery [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	$ 1,176,830	$ 1,139,946
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	188,402	119,899
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(50,462)	(55,761)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,314,770	1,204,084
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	109,856	99,630
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	2,436	7,925
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(6,712)	(841)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	105,580	106,714
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	17,720	17,562
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	122	402
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(320)	(83)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	17,522	17,881
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	47,354	43,515
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	4,182	2,456
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(654)	(775)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	50,882	45,196
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	145	150
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	2	4
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(1)	0
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	146	154
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	7,744	5,840
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	892	334
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(68)	(196)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	8,568	5,978
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	368,746	363,190
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	115,819	71,613
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(4,591)	(7,716)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	479,974	427,087
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	14,556	16,026
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	3,169	2,862
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(1,010)	(846)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	16,715	18,042
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	32,773	29,889
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	8,507	3,687
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(678)	(857)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	40,602	32,719
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 [Member] | Equity Funds [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	279,475	279,265
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	42,647	19,520
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(2,512)	(9,921)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	319,610	288,864
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	270,478	251,687
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	6,126	10,975
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(30,178)	(19,350)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	246,426	243,312
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	26,894	32,785
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	4,258	77
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(3,737)	(15,175)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	27,415	17,687
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 [Member] | Other Investments [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	1,089	407
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	242	44
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(1)	(1)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	$ 1,330	$ 450