Preneed Activities Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	$ 3,260,648
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	367,569
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(57,889)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	3,570,328
Estimate of Fair Value Measurement [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis		$ 3,032,413
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains		196,492
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses		(151,197)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value		3,077,708
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 [Member] | US Treasury Securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	48,805	145,315
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	14	884
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(117)	(838)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	48,702	145,361
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 [Member] | Foreign Government Debt Securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	81,500	79,141
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	160	409
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(1,089)	(222)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	80,571	79,328
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 [Member] | Corporate Debt Securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	13,540	18,934
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	327	295
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(170)	(227)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	13,697	19,002
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 [Member] | Residential Mortgage Backed Securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	3,279	333
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	16	1
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(14)	(1)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	3,281	333
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 [Member] | Asset-backed Securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	320	448
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	15	16
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(10)	(31)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	325	433
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 [Member] | Preferred Stock securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	7,834	2,907
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	385	83
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(139)	(156)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	8,080	2,834
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 [Member] | US Common Stock Securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	1,161,015	1,107,942
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	266,822	151,146
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(24,739)	(35,542)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,403,098	1,223,546
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 [Member] | Canada Common Stock Securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	30,762	25,708
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	12,545	10,030
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(522)	(455)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	42,785	35,283
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 [Member] | Other International Common Stock Securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	63,510	83,238
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	13,174	4,995
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(2,834)	(10,632)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	73,850	77,601
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 [Member] | Equity Funds [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	613,934	688,120
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	59,100	19,962
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(4,312)	(56,857)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	668,722	651,225
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 [Member] | Fixed Income Funds [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	1,230,196	875,615
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	11,897	6,203
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(23,943)	(46,219)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,218,150	835,599
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 [Member] | Other Investments [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	5,953	4,712
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	3,114	2,468
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	0	(17)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	9,067	7,163
Reported Value Measurement [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	1,122,537
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	64,692
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(8,009)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,179,220
Reported Value Measurement [Member] | Commingled funds - Fixed inc [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	454,242	692,434
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	235	8,524
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(5,860)	(12,234)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	448,617	688,724
Reported Value Measurement [Member] | Commingled funds - Equity [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	214,000
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	12,826
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	0
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	226,826
Reported Value Measurement [Member] | Money Market Funds [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	287,435	304,055
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	0	0
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	0	0
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	287,435	304,055
Reported Value Measurement [Member] | Private Equity Funds [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	166,860	175,881
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	51,631	9,812
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(2,149)	(15,217)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	216,342	170,476
Reported Value Measurement [Member] | Reported At Net Asset Value [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis		1,172,370
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains		18,336
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses		(27,451)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value		1,163,255
Estimate of Fair Value Measurement [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	4,383,185	4,204,783
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	432,261	214,828
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(65,898)	(178,648)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	$ 4,749,548	$ 4,240,963