Preneed Funeral Activities Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities (Details) (Funeral [Member], USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	$ 1,328,663	$ 1,343,887
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	126,200	121,718
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(39,628)	(42,663)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,415,235	1,422,942
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	99,924	110,511
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	1,435	1,299
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(4,221)	(5,599)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	97,138	106,211
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	94,793	100,263
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	151	81
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(1,066)	(1,113)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	93,878	99,231
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	56,892	64,042
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	3,965	3,515
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(361)	(691)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	60,496	66,866
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	2,424	2,408
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	26	23
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(33)	(33)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	2,417	2,398
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	3,358	3,366
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	65	0
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	0	(10)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	3,423	3,356
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	29,322	30,107
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	1,921	754
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(45)	(235)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	31,198	30,626
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	369,338	364,721
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	75,887	77,963
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(6,397)	(2,928)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	438,828	439,756
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	25,182	27,634
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	4,721	4,346
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(970)	(1,216)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	28,933	30,764
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	34,811	35,519
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	4,904	4,986
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(480)	(199)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	39,235	40,306
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 [Member] | Equity Funds [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	262,636	257,256
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	23,887	22,530
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(2,132)	(2,303)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	284,391	277,483
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	313,960	313,606
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	5,785	3,228
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(15,800)	(19,577)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	303,945	297,257
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	32,568	32,909
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	3,069	2,702
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(8,123)	(8,726)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	27,514	26,885
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 [Member] | Other Investments [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	3,455	1,545
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	384	291
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	0	(33)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	$ 3,839	$ 1,803