Preneed Funeral Activities Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities (Details) (Funeral, USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	Mar. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	$ 1,197,121	$ 1,213,128
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	54,577	33,058
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	33,107	40,439
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,218,591	1,205,747
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | US Treasury Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	82,111	85,775
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	1,132	468
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	99	455
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	83,144	85,788
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Foreign Government Debt Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	77,971	90,430
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	856	449
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	356	874
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	78,471	90,005
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Corporate Debt Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	24,044	24,765
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	673	423
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	121	126
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	24,596	25,062
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Residential Mortgage Backed Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	1,476	1,325
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	32	29
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	15	12
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,493	1,342
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Asset-backed Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	5	6
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	0	0
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	0	0
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	5	6
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Preferred Stock Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	2,205	2,503
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	131	113
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	62	113
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	2,274	2,503
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | US Common Stock Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	369,115	377,441
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	31,162	18,533
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	10,822	7,405
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	389,455	388,569
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | Canada Common Stock Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	13,832	14,708
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	3,960	4,292
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	738	895
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	17,054	18,105
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	35,885	38,035
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	2,637	1,175
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	2,436	1,560
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	36,086	37,650
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | Equity Funds
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	318,059	308,548
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	5,747	3,332
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	7,309	15,901
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	316,497	295,979
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | Fixed Income Funds
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	233,082	229,414
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	2,726	869
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	4,659	3,576
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	231,149	226,707
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 | Private Equity Funds
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	33,031	35,094
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	4,180	2,649
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	6,168	9,418
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	31,043	28,325
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 | Other Investments
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	6,305	5,084
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	1,341	726
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	322	104
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	$ 7,324	$ 5,706