Preneed Funeral Activities Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities (Details) - Funeral - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Sep. 30, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	$ 1,162,700	$ 1,213,128
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	31,198	33,058
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	95,662	40,439
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,098,236	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	82,969	85,775
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	121	468
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	1,248	455
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	81,842	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	75,703	90,430
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	556	449
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	558	874
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	75,701	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	21,521	24,765
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	364	423
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	253	126
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	21,632	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	1,449	1,325
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	37	29
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	21	12
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,465	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	1,939	2,503
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	22	113
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	112	113
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,849	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	351,048	377,441
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	18,956	18,533
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	29,166	7,405
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	340,838	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	12,032	14,708
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	2,700	4,292
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	1,069	895
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	13,663	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	36,612	38,035
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	1,403	1,175
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	6,224	1,560
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	31,791	37,650
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | Equity Funds
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	318,576	308,548
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	1,166	3,332
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	41,814	15,901
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	277,928	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	221,425	229,414
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	434	869
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	9,628	3,576
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	212,231	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	34,994	35,094
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	4,450	2,649
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	5,554	9,418
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	33,890	28,325
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 | Other Investments
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	4,427	5,084
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	989	726
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	15	104
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	$ 5,401	$ 5,706