Preneed Activities Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Jun. 30, 2020	Dec. 31, 2019
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	$ 3,689,625
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	351,119
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(373,612)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	3,667,132
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	48,249	49,728
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	1,923	752
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(249)	(130)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	49,923	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	38,056	41,093
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	58	76
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(727)	(850)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	37,387	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	2,351	9,694
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	6	28
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(81)	(172)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	2,276	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	3,254	3,210
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	168	59
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	0	(1)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	3,422	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	3	3
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(5)	(4)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	126	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	386	6,338
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	0	804
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(35)	(115)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	351	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	1,368,878	1,349,828
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	284,456	303,766
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(118,350)	(36,507)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,534,984	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	35,890	43,866
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	7,793	12,369
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(3,547)	(2,075)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	40,136	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	87,167	95,257
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	19,230	18,227
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(3,647)	(522)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	102,750	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	812,202	746,581
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	13,840	31,511
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(140,573)	(54,020)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	685,469	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	1,292,673	1,247,930
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	23,609	16,424
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(106,397)	(32,587)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,209,885	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	391	7,034
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	33	1,184
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(1)	0
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	423	8,218
Reported Value Measurement [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	1,240,642
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	99,131
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(13,463)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,326,310
Reported Value Measurement [Member] | Commingled funds - Fixed inc [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	468,268	444,744
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	15,647	5,077
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(2,247)	(1,731)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	481,668	448,090
Reported Value Measurement [Member] | Commingled funds - Equity [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	261,895	249,980
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	33,768	47,631
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(243)	0
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	295,420	297,611
Reported Value Measurement [Member] | Money Market Funds [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	298,674	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	298,674	397,461
Reported Value Measurement [Member] | Private Equity Funds [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	211,805	176,388
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	49,716	80,283
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(10,973)	(422)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	250,548	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	4,930,267	4,869,261
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	450,250	518,194
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(387,075)	(129,136)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	$ 4,993,442	$ 5,258,319