Preneed Activities Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Dec. 31, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	$ 3,600,688
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	385,203
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(126,983)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	3,858,908
Estimate of Fair Value Measurement [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis		$ 3,434,980
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains		175,867
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses		(395,711)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value		3,215,136
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 [Member] | US Treasury Securities [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	49,728	49,187
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	752	153
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(130)	(448)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	50,350	48,892
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 [Member] | Debt Security, Government, Non-US [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	41,093	56,343
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	76	23
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(850)	(1,797)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	40,319	54,569
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 [Member] | Corporate Debt Securities [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	9,694	19,869
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	28	13
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(172)	(516)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	9,550	19,366
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 [Member] | Residential Mortgage Backed Securities [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	3,210	3,611
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	59	10
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(1)	(50)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	3,268	3,571
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 [Member] | Asset-backed Securities [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	129	142
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	3	2
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(4)	(11)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	128	133
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 [Member] | Preferred Stock securities [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	6,338	9,058
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	804	180
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(115)	(412)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	7,027	8,826
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 [Member] | US Common Stock Securities [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	1,349,828	1,236,513
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	303,766	149,233
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(36,507)	(138,141)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,617,087	1,247,605
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 [Member] | Canada Common Stock Securities [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	43,866	34,821
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	12,369	9,082
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(2,075)	(3,026)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	54,160	40,877
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 [Member] | Other International Common Stock Securities [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	95,257	77,676
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	18,227	6,057
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(522)	(10,275)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	112,962	73,458
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 [Member] | Equity Funds [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	746,581	760,887
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	31,511	7,104
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(54,020)	(151,853)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	724,072	616,138
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 [Member] | Fixed Income Funds [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	1,247,930	1,180,325
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	16,424	800
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(32,587)	(89,179)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,231,767	1,091,946
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 [Member] | Other Investments [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	7,034	6,548
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	1,184	3,210
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	0	(3)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	8,218	9,755
Reported Value Measurement [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	1,268,573
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	132,991
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(2,153)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,399,411
Reported Value Measurement [Member] | Commingled funds - Fixed inc [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	444,744	419,206
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	5,077	2,419
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(1,731)	(18,981)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	448,090	402,644
Reported Value Measurement [Member] | Commingled funds - Equity [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	249,980	205,789
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	47,631	19,567
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	0	(11,723)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	297,611	213,633
Reported Value Measurement [Member] | Money Market Funds [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	397,461	466,429
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	0	0
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	0	0
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	397,461	466,429
Reported Value Measurement [Member] | Private Equity Funds [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	176,388	215,618
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	80,283	72,897
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(422)	(637)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	256,249	287,878
Reported Value Measurement [Member] | Reported At Net Asset Value [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis		1,307,042
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains		94,883
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses		(31,341)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value		1,370,584
Estimate of Fair Value Measurement [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	4,869,261	4,742,022
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	518,194	270,750
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(129,136)	(427,052)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	$ 5,258,319	$ 4,585,720