Cemetery Perpetual Care Trusts Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities (Details) (Cemetery Perpetual Care [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	$ 1,266,716	$ 980,272
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	101,437	88,694
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(15,614)	(23,398)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,352,539	1,045,568
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	1,588	820
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	9	45
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(14)	(1)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,583	864
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	28,487	30,159
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	301	709
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(459)	(140)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	28,329	30,728
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	43,196	22,877
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	312	537
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(263)	(51)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	43,245	23,363
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	4,258	1,498
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	14	41
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(19)	(2)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	4,253	1,537
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	3,006	161
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	5	10
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(11)	0
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	3,000	171
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	25,952	5,637
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	192	61
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(252)	(938)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	25,892	4,760
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	231,156	163,173
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	53,782	19,609
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(2,087)	(3,389)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	282,851	179,393
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	8,846	8,954
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	2,222	1,568
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(623)	(731)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	10,445	9,791
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	20,676	14,693
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	1,319	1,392
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(167)	(447)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	21,828	15,638
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 [Member] | Equity Funds [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	41,282	16,999
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	5,693	2,102
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(35)	(211)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	46,940	18,890
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	819,439	680,921
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	35,963	61,172
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(2,598)	(441)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	852,804	741,652
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	28,309	24,727
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	472	338
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(9,002)	(13,943)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	19,779	11,122
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 [Member] | Other Investments [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	10,521	9,653
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	1,153	1,110
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(84)	(3,104)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	$ 11,590	$ 7,659