Preneed Funeral Activities Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities (Details) (Funeral, USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	9 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	$ 1,172,606	$ 1,363,363
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	100,711	121,718
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(10,377)	(42,663)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,262,940	1,442,418
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | US Treasury Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	104,517	112,173
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	1,365	1,299
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(53)	(5,599)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	105,829	107,873
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Foreign Government Debt Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	94,889	100,263
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	321	81
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(922)	(1,113)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	94,288	99,231
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Corporate Debt Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	42,598	64,721
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	3,001	3,515
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(126)	(691)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	45,473	67,545
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Residential Mortgage Backed Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	1,496	2,446
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	25	23
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(21)	(33)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,500	2,436
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Asset-backed Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	133	3,419
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	2	0
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	0	(10)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	135	3,409
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Preferred Stock Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	8,516	30,586
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	422	755
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	0	(235)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	8,938	31,106
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | US Common Stock Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	252,015	371,560
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	57,523	77,962
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(126)	(2,928)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	309,412	446,594
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | Canada Common Stock Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	16,510	27,730
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	5,014	4,346
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(282)	(1,217)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	21,242	30,859
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | Other International Common Stock Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	21,202	36,149
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	4,130	4,986
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(2)	(198)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	25,330	40,937
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | Equity Funds
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	332,092	261,598
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	20,198	22,530
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(586)	(2,303)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	351,704	281,825
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | Fixed Income Funds
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	259,964	318,257
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	4,651	3,228
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(1,125)	(19,577)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	263,490	301,908
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 | Private Equity Funds
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	33,470	32,909
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	3,577	2,702
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(7,112)	(8,726)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	29,935	26,885
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 | Other Investments
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	5,204	1,552
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	482	291
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(22)	(33)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	$ 5,664	$ 1,810