Borrowing Arrangements (Details) (USD $)							3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended			3 Months Ended		1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Sep. 30, 2012 Interest rate swap Designated as Cash Flow Hedging Instrument	Nov. 30, 2010 Interest rate swap Designated as Cash Flow Hedging Instrument	Sep. 30, 2012 Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas	Sep. 30, 2012 Federal Reserve Discount Window	Sep. 30, 2012 Revolving Line of Credit Maturing March 2013	Sep. 30, 2012 Revolving Line of Credit Maturing March 2013	Jun. 30, 2012 Revolving Line of Credit Maturing March 2013 payments	Dec. 31, 2011 Revolving Line of Credit Maturing March 2013	Sep. 30, 2012 Junior Subordinated Debt Maturing March 2036 payment	Dec. 31, 2011 Junior Subordinated Debt Maturing March 2036	Feb. 28, 2006 Fixed/Floating Junior Subordinated Deferrable Interest Debentures Maturing March 2036 First M&F Statutory Trust I	Sep. 30, 2012 Fixed/Floating Junior Subordinated Deferrable Interest Debentures Maturing March 2036 First M&F Statutory Trust I
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Number of Required Principal Payments									3
Company’s line of credit in the amount of $5,000,000, maturing in March 2013; secured by approximately 51% of the Bank’s common stock; interest payable quarterly at the prime rate with a floor of 3.50%							$ 2,917,000	$ 2,917,000		$ 3,292,000
Bank’s advances from Federal Home Loan Banks	36,067,000	39,709,000
Other borrowings	38,984,000	43,001,000
Company’s junior subordinated debentures, interest payable quarterly at 90-day LIBOR plus 1.33% through March 2036; currently redeemable	30,928,000	30,928,000									30,928,000	30,928,000
Line of credit maximum borrowing capacity							5,000,000	5,000,000
Line of Credit Facility, Frequency of Payments							quarterly
Percent of common stock securing line of credit							51.00%	51.00%
Line of credit interest rate floor								3.50%
Required payment for Q2 March 2012							125,000	125,000
Required payment for Q3 March 2012											125,000
Required payment for Q4 March 2012											125,000
Available amount of line of credit					49,902,000	6,444,000
Fixed/floating rate junior subordinated deferrable interest debentures													30,928,000
Cash received													30,000,000
Common securities received in transaction													928,000
Debt Instrument, Frequency of Periodic Payment											quarterly			quarterly
Number of consecutive quarterly payments of interest that may be deferred											20
Interest rate swap, notional value				$ 30,000,000
Interest rate swap, stated rate (as a percentage)			3.795%
Floating interest rate over LIBOR			1.33%								1.33%