Preneed Funeral Activities Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities (Details) - Funeral - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Jun. 30, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	$ 1,180,946	$ 1,213,128
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	49,888	33,058
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	37,116	40,439
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,193,718	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	84,838	85,775
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	278	468
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	557	455
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	84,559	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	81,258	90,430
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	669	449
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	538	874
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	81,389	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	23,071	24,765
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	485	423
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	185	126
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	23,371	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	1,394	1,325
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	22	29
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	20	12
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,396	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, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	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	1,934	2,503
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	81	113
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	81	113
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,934	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	360,907	377,441
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	31,539	18,533
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	12,507	7,405
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	379,939	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	13,769	14,708
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	3,427	4,292
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	1,023	895
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	16,173	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	34,518	38,035
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	2,653	1,175
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	2,736	1,560
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	34,435	37,650
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | Equity Funds
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	303,237	308,548
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	5,085	3,332
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	7,519	15,901
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	300,803	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	233,625	229,414
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	488	869
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	5,876	3,576
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	228,237	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	36,366	35,094
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	3,929	2,649
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	5,929	9,418
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	34,366	28,325
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 | Other Investments
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	6,024	5,084
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	1,232	726
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	145	104
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	$ 7,111	$ 5,706