Cemetery Perpetual Care Trusts Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities (Details) (Cemetery Perpetual Care [Member], USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	Mar. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	$ 985,353	$ 980,272
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	102,762	88,694
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(13,141)	(23,398)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,074,974	1,045,568
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 [Member] | US Treasury Securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	820	820
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	42	45
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(1)	(1)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	861	864
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 [Member] | Foreign Government Debt Securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	29,194	30,159
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	638	709
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(198)	(140)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	29,634	30,728
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 [Member] | Corporate Debt Securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	22,203	22,877
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	517	537
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(78)	(51)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	22,642	23,363
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 [Member] | Residential Mortgage Backed Securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	1,466	1,498
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	33	41
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(3)	(2)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,496	1,537
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 [Member] | Asset-backed Securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	161	161
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	9	10
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	0	0
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	170	171
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 [Member] | Preferred Stock securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	5,563	5,637
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	42	61
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(1,033)	(938)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	4,572	4,760
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 [Member] | US Common Stock Securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	166,134	163,173
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	34,797	19,609
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(1,547)	(3,389)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	199,384	179,393
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 [Member] | Canada Common Stock Securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	8,745	8,954
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	2,032	1,568
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(757)	(731)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	10,020	9,791
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 [Member] | Other International Common Stock Securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	11,696	14,693
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	606	1,392
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(457)	(447)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	11,845	15,638
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 [Member] | Equity Funds [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	15,674	16,999
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	3,891	2,102
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(70)	(211)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	19,495	18,890
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 [Member] | Fixed Income Funds [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	689,835	680,921
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	58,531	61,172
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(307)	(441)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	748,059	741,652
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 [Member] | Private Equity Funds [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	24,689	24,727
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	455	338
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(8,690)	(13,943)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	16,454	11,122
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 [Member] | Other Investments [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	9,173	9,653
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	1,169	1,110
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	0	(3,104)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	$ 10,342	$ 7,659