Preneed Cemetery Activities Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities (Details) (Cemetery [Member], USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	6 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	$ 1,152,745	$ 1,139,946
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	140,944	119,899
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(63,908)	(55,761)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,229,781	1,204,084
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	106,573	99,630
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	2,183	7,925
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(7,027)	(841)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	101,729	106,714
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	16,588	17,562
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	245	402
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(169)	(83)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	16,664	17,881
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	45,657	43,515
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	3,079	2,456
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(807)	(775)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	47,929	45,196
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	141	150
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	2	4
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(1)	0
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	142	154
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	7,114	5,840
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	694	334
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(34)	(196)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	7,774	5,978
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	351,487	363,190
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	94,150	71,613
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(6,416)	(7,716)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	439,221	427,087
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	14,429	16,026
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	3,192	2,862
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(1,297)	(846)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	16,324	18,042
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	38,736	29,889
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	5,316	3,687
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(1,445)	(857)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	42,607	32,719
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 [Member] | Equity Funds [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	280,278	279,265
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	22,846	19,520
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(9,366)	(9,921)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	293,758	288,864
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	262,374	251,687
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	5,948	10,975
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(32,574)	(19,350)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	235,748	243,312
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	28,275	32,785
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	3,093	77
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(4,741)	(15,175)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	26,627	17,687
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 [Member] | Other Investments [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	1,093	407
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	196	44
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(31)	(1)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	$ 1,258	$ 450