Preneed Cemetery Activities Investment Related Activities (Details) (Cemetery [Member], USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
Cemetery [Member]
Investment related activities [Line Items]
Deposits to trust	$ 129,581	$ 106,185	$ 98,130
Withdrawals	150,064	119,576	98,738
Purchases of available-for-sale securities	1,786,800	477,772	746,761
Sales of available-for-sale securities	1,842,417	498,852	700,091
Realized gains from sales of available-for-sale securities	271,507	101,337	87,665
Realized losses from sales of available-for-sale securities	$ (138,473)	$ (14,593)	$ (29,397)

Amounts deposited to trust during the period.

No definition available.

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- Definition

Amounts withdrawn from trust during the period.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- Definition

This item represents the gross profit realized on the sale of debt or equity securities categorized neither as held-to-maturity nor trading securities.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 320

-SubTopic 10

-Section 50

-Paragraph 9

-Subparagraph (a)

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=27724398&loc=d3e27357-111563

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- Definition

This item represents the gross loss realized on the sale of debt or equity securities categorized neither as held-to-maturity nor trading securities.

+ References

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- Definition

The cash outflow to acquire debt and equity securities not classified as either held-to-maturity securities or trading securities which would be classified as available-for-sale securities and reported at fair value, with unrealized gains and losses excluded from earnings and reported in a separate component of shareholders' equity.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Glossary Investing Activities

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6516133

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 320

-SubTopic 10

-Section 45

-Paragraph 11

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6871852&loc=d3e26853-111562

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 230

-SubTopic 10

-Section 45

-Paragraph 13

-Subparagraph (a),(b)

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=31042434&loc=d3e3213-108585

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- Definition

The cash inflow associated with the sale of debt and equity securities classified as available-for-sale securities.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Glossary Investing Activities

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6516133

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 320

-SubTopic 10

-Section 45

-Paragraph 11

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6871852&loc=d3e26853-111562

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 230

-SubTopic 10

-Section 45

-Paragraph 12

-Subparagraph (a),(b)

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=31042434&loc=d3e3179-108585

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