Preneed Funeral Activities Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities (Details) - Funeral - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Jun. 30, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	$ 1,145,944	$ 1,156,570
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	58,589	43,383
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(73,578)	(90,559)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,130,955	1,109,394
Estimate of Fair Value Measurement [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	974,656	1,048,698
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	49,537	39,603
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(67,926)	(83,650)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	956,267	1,004,651
Reported at net asset value
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	171,288	107,872
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	9,052	3,780
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(5,652)	(6,909)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	174,688	104,743
Private Equity Funds | Reported at net asset value
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	37,240	38,724
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	3,707	3,780
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(5,652)	(6,467)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	35,295	36,037
Fixed Income Commingled funds [Member] | Reported at net asset value
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	134,048	69,148
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	5,345	0
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	0	(442)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	139,393	68,706
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | US Treasury Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	77,474	82,417
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	1,056	107
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(137)	(1,331)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	78,393	81,193
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Foreign Government Debt Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	79,458	72,488
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	430	532
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(571)	(655)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	79,317	72,365
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Corporate Debt Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	13,989	19,036
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	261	235
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(71)	(284)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	14,179	18,987
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 | Residential Mortgage Backed Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	101	1,297
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	1	29
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	0	(22)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	102	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	1,956	1,949
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	106	41
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(88)	(158)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,974	1,832
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | US Common Stock Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	340,480	344,116
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	35,330	30,885
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(20,429)	(19,149)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	355,381	355,852
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | Canada Common Stock Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	12,203	11,930
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	3,171	2,652
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(578)	(1,077)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	14,796	13,505
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | Other International Common Stock Securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	30,750	32,156
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	2,188	2,636
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(2,891)	(3,907)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	30,047	30,885
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | Equity Funds
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	327,593	323,884
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	4,287	1,263
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(37,934)	(43,975)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	293,946	281,172
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 | Fixed Income Funds
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	86,275	155,717
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	1,615	154
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(5,168)	(13,092)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	82,722	142,779
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 | Other Investments
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost Basis	4,319	3,703
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	1,092	1,069
Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	(58)	0
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	$ 5,353	$ 4,772