Income taxes - Deferred Income Taxes (Detail) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
Deferred tax assets:
Accrued expenses	$ 17,241	$ 17,104
Allowance for uncollectible amounts	3,379	3,521
Investments	1,582us-gaap_DeferredTaxAssetsInvestments	0us-gaap_DeferredTaxAssetsInvestments
Fixed assets	5,860	6,577
Net operating loss carryforwards	4,260	3,261
Tax credit carryforwards	26,792	31,372
Foreign currency translation adjustments	411	0
Other	2,127us-gaap_DeferredTaxAssetsOther	1,463us-gaap_DeferredTaxAssetsOther
Deferred tax assets – gross	61,652us-gaap_DeferredTaxAssetsGross	63,298us-gaap_DeferredTaxAssetsGross
Valuation allowance	(2,564)	(6,971)
Deferred tax assets – net	59,088	56,327
Deferred tax liabilities:
Amortization – goodwill and other intangibles	(34,740)	(30,089)
Unrealized gains on investments	(7,953)	(3,382)
Deferred compensation on life insurance policies	(3,239)stc_DeferredTaxLiabilitiesInsurance	(3,147)stc_DeferredTaxLiabilitiesInsurance
Foreign currency translation adjustments	0	(2,726)
Title loss provisions	(23,365)	(19,449)
Investments	0	(305)
Other	(2,476)us-gaap_DeferredTaxLiabilitiesOther	(259)us-gaap_DeferredTaxLiabilitiesOther
Deferred tax liabilities – gross	(71,773)us-gaap_DeferredTaxLiabilities	(59,357)us-gaap_DeferredTaxLiabilities
Net deferred income tax liabilities	$ (12,685)us-gaap_DeferredTaxAssetsLiabilitiesNet	$ (3,030)us-gaap_DeferredTaxAssetsLiabilitiesNet

Deferred Tax Assets Foreign Currency Translation Adjustments

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Amount before allocation of valuation allowances of deferred tax asset attributable to deductible temporary differences and carryforwards.

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Amount before allocation of valuation allowances of deferred tax asset attributable to deductible temporary differences from the allowance for doubtful accounts.

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