Preneed Activities Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Mar. 31, 2021	Dec. 31, 2020
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	$ 3,611,443
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	790,007
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(59,299)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	4,342,151
Estimate of Fair Value Measurement [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis		$ 3,569,675
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains		687,303
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses		(88,603)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value		4,168,375
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 [Member] | US Treasury Securities [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	46,312	44,907
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	1,197	1,566
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(374)	(272)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	47,135	46,201
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	29,396	30,210
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	45	51
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(4)	(157)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	29,437	30,104
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 [Member] | Corporate Debt Securities [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	1,445	1,669
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	10	14
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(15)	(8)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,440	1,675
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	1,072	2,438
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	77	131
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(5)	0
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,144	2,569
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 [Member] | Asset-backed Securities [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	283	174
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	2	3
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(17)	(5)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	268	172
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 [Member] | Preferred Stock securities [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	1,378	358
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	54	0
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(5)	(24)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,427	334
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	1,538,711	1,500,125
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	590,244	503,757
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(35,351)	(54,748)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	2,093,604	1,949,134
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	41,103	35,016
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	14,098	10,915
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(2,165)	(1,823)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	53,036	44,108
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	102,439	110,775
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	40,452	39,837
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(2,430)	(1,831)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	140,461	148,781
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 [Member] | Equity Funds [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	800,930	821,406
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	125,413	95,155
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(5,679)	(10,437)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	920,664	906,124
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 [Member] | Fixed Income Funds [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	1,048,187	1,022,409
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	18,413	35,872
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(13,254)	(19,298)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,053,346	1,038,983
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 [Member] | Other Investments [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	187	188
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	2	2
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	0	0
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	189	190
Reported Value Measurement [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	1,536,644
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	194,332
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(10,423)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,720,553
Reported Value Measurement [Member] | Commingled funds - Fixed inc [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	660,474	657,219
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	26,441	37,474
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(2,329)	(173)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	684,586	694,520
Reported Value Measurement [Member] | Commingled funds - Equity [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	278,866	283,329
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	100,757	97,704
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(93)	0
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	379,530	381,033
Reported Value Measurement [Member] | Money Market Funds [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	326,518	330,745
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	0	0
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	0	0
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	326,518	330,745
Reported Value Measurement [Member] | Private Equity Funds [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	270,786	217,953
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	67,134	68,846
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(8,001)	(10,284)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	329,919	276,515
Reported Value Measurement [Member] | Reported At Net Asset Value [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis		1,489,246
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains		204,024
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses		(10,457)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value		1,682,813
Estimate of Fair Value Measurement [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	5,148,087	5,058,921
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	984,339	891,327
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(69,722)	(99,060)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	$ 6,062,704	$ 5,851,188