Preneed Funeral Activities Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities (Details) - Funeral - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Mar. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	$ 1,152,941	$ 1,156,570
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	45,580	43,383
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(86,142)	(90,559)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,112,379	1,109,394
Estimate of Fair Value Measurement [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	1,050,192	1,048,698
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	40,551	39,603
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(79,540)	(83,650)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,011,203	1,004,651
Reported at net asset value
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	102,749	107,872
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	5,029	3,780
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(6,602)	(6,909)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	101,176	104,743
Private Equity Funds | Reported at net asset value
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	37,761	38,724
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	3,701	3,780
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(6,602)	(6,467)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	34,860	36,037
Fixed Income Commingled funds [Member] | Reported at net asset value
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	64,988	69,148
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	1,328	0
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	0	(442)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	66,316	68,706
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | US Treasury Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	78,022	82,417
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	834	107
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(254)	(1,331)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	78,602	81,193
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Foreign Government Debt Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	77,781	72,488
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	410	532
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(881)	(655)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	77,310	72,365
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Corporate Debt Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	14,974	19,036
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	173	235
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(262)	(284)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	14,885	18,987
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Residential Mortgage Backed Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	80	1,297
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	2	29
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	0	(22)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	82	1,304
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Asset-backed Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	58	5
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	0	0
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(1)	0
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	57	5
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Preferred Stock Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	1,950	1,949
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	64	41
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(116)	(158)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,898	1,832
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | US Common Stock Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	351,310	344,116
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	30,275	30,885
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(23,247)	(19,149)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	358,338	355,852
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | Canada Common Stock Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	13,014	11,930
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	2,338	2,652
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(1,146)	(1,077)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	14,206	13,505
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | Other International Common Stock Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	29,746	32,156
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	2,171	2,636
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(3,909)	(3,907)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	28,008	30,885
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | Equity Funds
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	328,286	323,884
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	2,780	1,263
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(40,449)	(43,975)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	290,617	281,172
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | Fixed Income Funds
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	150,974	155,717
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	594	154
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(9,179)	(13,092)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	142,389	142,779
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 | Other Investments
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	3,997	3,703
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	910	1,069
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(96)	0
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	$ 4,811	$ 4,772