Preneed Cemetery Activities Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities (Details) (Cemetery [Member], USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	$ 1,380,655	$ 1,139,946
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	227,890	119,899
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(54,826)	(55,761)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,553,719	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	113,621	99,630
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	1,714	7,925
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(8,876)	(841)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	106,459	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	17,073	17,562
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	170	402
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(261)	(83)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	16,982	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	48,970	43,515
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	5,262	2,456
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(646)	(775)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	53,586	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	408	150
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	2	4
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(2)	0
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	408	154
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	3,346
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	0
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(13)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	3,333
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	16,708	5,840
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	1,106	334
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(123)	(196)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	17,691	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	425,246	363,190
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	147,258	71,613
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(3,231)	(7,716)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	569,273	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	15,368	16,026
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	4,063	2,862
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(935)	(846)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	18,496	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	44,184	29,889
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	10,079	3,687
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(200)	(857)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	54,063	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	327,084	279,265
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	49,428	19,520
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(1,704)	(9,921)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	374,808	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	338,944	251,687
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	5,236	10,975
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(33,649)	(19,350)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	310,531	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	28,625	32,785
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	3,372	77
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(5,153)	(15,175)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	26,844	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	1,078	407
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	200	44
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(33)	(1)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	$ 1,245	$ 450