Cemetery Perpetual Care Trusts Long-term Receivable and Investment (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	9 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
Long-term receivable and investment components [Line Items]
Assets of Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Current	$ 0	$ 4,750
Cemetery perpetual care trust investments	1,381,549	1,339,842
Cemetery Perpetual Care
Long-term receivable and investment components [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Continuous Unrealized Loss Position, Less than Twelve Months, Fair Value	417,532	267,413
Available-for-sale Securities, Continuous Unrealized Loss Position, Less than 12 Months, Aggregate Losses	1,219	(4,478)
Available-for-sale Securities, Continuous Unrealized Loss Position, Twelve Months or Longer, Fair Value	31,760	71,493
Available-for-sale Securities, Continuous Unrealized Loss Position, 12 Months or Longer, Aggregate Losses	(12,130)	11,136
Available-for-sale Securities, Continuous Unrealized Loss Position, Fair Value	449,292	338,906
Available-for-sale Securities, Continuous Unrealized Loss Position, Aggregate Losses	(13,349)	(15,614)
Trust investments, at market	1,301,272	1,348,059
Restricted Cash	102,421	78,509
Assets of Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Current	(22,144)	(86,726)
Cemetery perpetual care trust investments	1,381,549	1,339,842
Asset-backed Securities | Cemetery Perpetual Care
Long-term receivable and investment components [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Continuous Unrealized Loss Position, Less than Twelve Months, Fair Value		2,826
Available-for-sale Securities, Continuous Unrealized Loss Position, Less than 12 Months, Aggregate Losses		(10)
Available-for-sale Securities, Continuous Unrealized Loss Position, Twelve Months or Longer, Fair Value		15
Available-for-sale Securities, Continuous Unrealized Loss Position, 12 Months or Longer, Aggregate Losses		(1)
Available-for-sale Securities, Continuous Unrealized Loss Position, Fair Value		2,841
Available-for-sale Securities, Continuous Unrealized Loss Position, Aggregate Losses		$ (11)