Equity Components of Accumulated Other Comrehensive income (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2016	Jun. 30, 2017	Jun. 30, 2016
Treasury Stock, Shares, Acquired		3,969,544
Treasury Stock, Value, Acquired, Par Value Method		$ 120,100
Treasury Stock Acquired, Average Cost Per Share		$ 30.25
Accumulated other comprehensive income [Roll Forward]
Balance at beginning of period	$ 29,289	$ 16,492	$ 6,164
Activity		256,916
Change in net unrealized gains associated with available-for-sale securities of the trusts, net of taxes		107,499	70,208
Reclassification of net unrealized gain activity attributable to the Deferred preneed funeral and cemetery receipts held in trust and Care trusts’ corpus’, net of taxes		(107,499)	(70,208)
Balance at end of period		30,090
Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss)
Accumulated other comprehensive income [Roll Forward]
Activity		13,598	23,125
Foreign Currency Gain (Loss)
Accumulated other comprehensive income [Roll Forward]
Balance at beginning of period	29,289	16,492	6,164
Activity		13,598	23,125
Balance at end of period		30,090
Accumulated Net Unrealized Investment Gain (Loss)
Accumulated other comprehensive income [Roll Forward]
Balance at beginning of period	$ 0	0	0
Change in net unrealized gains associated with available-for-sale securities of the trusts, net of taxes		107,499	70,208
Reclassification of net unrealized gain activity attributable to the Deferred preneed funeral and cemetery receipts held in trust and Care trusts’ corpus’, net of taxes		(107,499)	$ (70,208)
Balance at end of period		$ 0