Preneed Activities Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Sep. 30, 2020	Dec. 31, 2019
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	$ 3,543,384
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	459,624
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(288,491)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	3,714,517
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	45,115	49,728
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	1,724	752
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(249)	(130)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	46,590	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	36,603	41,093
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	56	76
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(838)	(850)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	35,821	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	1,505	9,694
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	13	28
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(6)	(172)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,512	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	3,240	3,210
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	160	59
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	0	(1)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	3,400	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	113	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	111	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	370	6,338
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	0	804
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(27)	(115)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	343	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	1,387,811	1,349,828
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	359,603	303,766
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(125,062)	(36,507)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,622,352	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	36,415	43,866
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	9,954	12,369
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(3,290)	(2,075)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	43,079	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	94,253	95,257
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	31,725	18,227
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(4,683)	(522)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	121,295	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	814,380	746,581
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	27,013	31,511
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(101,299)	(54,020)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	740,094	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	1,123,379	1,247,930
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	29,373	16,424
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(52,897)	(32,587)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,099,855	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	200	7,034
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	0	1,184
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(135)	0
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	65	8,218
Reported Value Measurement [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	1,397,545
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	137,886
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(11,359)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,524,072
Reported Value Measurement [Member] | Commingled funds - Fixed inc [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	651,554	444,744
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	21,916	5,077
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(432)	(1,731)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	673,038	448,090
Reported Value Measurement [Member] | Commingled funds - Equity [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	260,214	249,980
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	60,893	47,631
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(20)	0
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	321,087	297,611
Reported Value Measurement [Member] | Money Market Funds [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	280,325	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	280,325	397,461
Reported Value Measurement [Member] | Private Equity Funds [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	205,452	176,388
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	55,077	80,283
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(10,907)	(422)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	249,622	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	4,940,929	4,869,261
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	597,510	518,194
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(299,850)	(129,136)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	$ 5,238,589	$ 5,258,319