Preneed Cemetery Activities Investment Related Activities (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2017	Mar. 31, 2016
Investment related activities [Line Items]
Realized gains from sales of available-for-sale securities	$ 52,433	$ 14,564
Realized losses from sales of available-for-sale securities	(21,774)	(44,120)
Cemetery
Investment related activities [Line Items]
Deposits	39,522	36,998
Withdrawals	38,534	32,411
Purchases of available-for-sale securities	398,813	131,851
Sales of available-for-sale securities	384,538	118,581
Realized gains from sales of available-for-sale securities	40,029	6,246
Realized losses from sales of available-for-sale securities	$ (14,261)	$ (22,853)

Amounts deposited to trust during the period.

No definition available.

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- Definition

Line items represents information regarding deposits, withdrawals, purchase and sales of securities, and realized gains and losses from those sales.

+ References

No definition available.

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- Definition

Amounts withdrawn from trust during the period.

+ References

No definition available.

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- Definition

This item represents the gross profit realized on the sale of debt or equity securities categorized neither as held-to-maturity nor trading securities.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 320
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 9
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=73527792&loc=d3e27357-111563

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- Definition

This item represents the gross loss realized on the sale of debt or equity securities categorized neither as held-to-maturity nor trading securities.

+ References

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- Definition

The cash outflow to acquire debt and equity securities not classified as either held-to-maturity securities or trading securities which would be classified as available-for-sale securities and reported at fair value, with unrealized gains and losses excluded from earnings and reported in a separate component of shareholders' equity.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Glossary Investing Activities
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6516133

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 13
-Subparagraph (a),(b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66902209&loc=d3e3213-108585

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 320
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 11
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66010992&loc=d3e26853-111562

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- Definition

The cash inflow associated with the sale of debt and equity securities classified as available-for-sale securities.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Glossary Investing Activities
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6516133

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 320
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 11
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66010992&loc=d3e26853-111562

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 12
-Subparagraph (a),(b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66902209&loc=d3e3179-108585

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