Preneed Cemetery Activities Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities (Details) (Cemetery, 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	$ 1,294,351	$ 1,359,811
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	189,129	227,890
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(5,411)	(54,826)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,478,069	1,532,875
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | US Treasury Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	101,400	112,112
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	1,617	1,714
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(2)	(8,876)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	103,015	104,950
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Foreign Government Debt Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	17,719	17,073
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	217	170
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(157)	(261)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	17,779	16,982
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Corporate Debt Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	41,849	48,363
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	5,010	5,262
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(167)	(646)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	46,692	52,979
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Residential Mortgage Backed Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	132	402
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	3	2
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(2)	(2)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	133	402
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Asset-backed Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	169	3,299
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	13	0
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	0	13
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	182	3,286
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Preferred Stock Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	9,938	16,458
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	522	1,106
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	0	(123)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	10,460	17,441
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | US Common Stock Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	372,178	417,335
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	112,471	147,258
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	0	(3,231)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	484,649	561,362
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | Canada Common Stock Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	13,207	15,337
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	5,712	4,063
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(377)	(935)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	18,542	18,465
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	32,440	43,417
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	8,528	10,079
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	0	(200)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	40,968	53,296
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | Equity Funds
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	372,803	321,770
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	42,998	49,428
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	0	(1,704)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	415,801	369,494
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | Fixed Income Funds
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	301,458	334,542
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	7,195	5,236
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(656)	(33,649)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	307,997	306,129
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 | Private Equity Funds
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	30,240	28,625
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	4,647	3,372
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(4,050)	(5,153)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	30,837	26,844
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 | Other Investments
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	818	1,078
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	196	200
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	0	(33)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	$ 1,014	$ 1,245