Preneed Activities Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Mar. 31, 2020	Dec. 31, 2019
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	$ 3,627,639
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	162,267
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(683,793)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	3,106,113
Estimate of Fair Value Measurement [Member]
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
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 [Member] | US Treasury Securities [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	48,320	49,728
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	1,882	752
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(101)	(130)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	50,101	50,350
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	36,771	41,093
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	94	76
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(802)	(850)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	36,063	40,319
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 [Member] | Corporate Debt Securities [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	6,647	9,694
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	60	28
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(104)	(172)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	6,603	9,550
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	3,221	3,210
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	162	59
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	0	(1)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	3,383	3,268
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 [Member] | Asset-backed Securities [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	128	129
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	4	3
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(2)	(4)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	130	128
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 [Member] | Preferred Stock securities [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	685	6,338
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	0	804
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(192)	(115)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	493	7,027
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	1,355,659	1,349,828
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	139,724	303,766
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(259,124)	(36,507)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,236,259	1,617,087
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	35,161	43,866
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	8,039	12,369
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(5,461)	(2,075)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	37,739	54,160
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	89,939	95,257
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	6,865	18,227
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(9,211)	(522)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	87,593	112,962
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 [Member] | Equity Funds [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	777,284	746,581
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	1,673	31,511
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(249,187)	(54,020)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	529,770	724,072
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 [Member] | Fixed Income Funds [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	1,273,438	1,247,930
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	3,732	16,424
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(159,609)	(32,587)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,117,561	1,231,767
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 [Member] | Other Investments [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	386	7,034
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	32	1,184
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	0	0
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	418	8,218
Reported Value Measurement [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	1,167,855
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	81,931
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(22,782)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,227,004
Reported Value Measurement [Member] | Commingled funds - Fixed inc [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	443,215	444,744
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	959	5,077
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(4,927)	(1,731)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	439,247	448,090
Reported Value Measurement [Member] | Commingled funds - Equity [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	255,846	249,980
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	1,012	47,631
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(8,230)	0
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	248,628	297,611
Reported Value Measurement [Member] | Money Market Funds [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	290,028	397,461
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	0	0
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	0	0
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	290,028	397,461
Reported Value Measurement [Member] | Private Equity Funds [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	178,766	176,388
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	79,960	80,283
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(9,625)	(422)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	249,101	256,249
Reported Value Measurement [Member] | Reported At Net Asset Value [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis		1,268,573
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
Estimate of Fair Value Measurement [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	4,795,494	4,869,261
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	244,198	518,194
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(706,575)	(129,136)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	$ 4,333,117	$ 5,258,319