Preneed Funeral Activities Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities (Details) (Funeral [Member], USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	$ 1,343,887	$ 954,925
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	121,718	69,555
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(42,663)	(46,507)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,422,942	977,973
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	110,511	105,594
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	1,299	5,072
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(5,599)	(880)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	106,211	109,786
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	100,263	110,399
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	81	861
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(1,113)	(113)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	99,231	111,147
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	64,042	51,611
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	3,515	2,531
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(691)	(623)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	66,866	53,519
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	2,408	3,123
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	23	57
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(33)	(8)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	2,398	3,172
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	3,366	129
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	0	3
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(10)	0
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	3,356	132
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	30,107	3,603
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	754	211
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(235)	(103)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	30,626	3,711
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	364,721	230,971
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	77,963	38,514
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(2,928)	(6,903)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	439,756	262,582
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	27,634	23,284
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	4,346	2,598
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(1,216)	(1,271)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	30,764	24,611
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	35,519	18,089
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	4,986	1,874
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(199)	(658)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	40,306	19,305
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 [Member] | Equity Funds [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	257,256	145,589
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	22,530	10,097
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(2,303)	(6,728)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	277,483	148,958
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	313,606	225,365
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	3,228	7,314
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(19,577)	(10,252)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	297,257	222,427
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	32,909	36,626
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	2,702	221
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(8,726)	(18,968)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	26,885	17,879
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 [Member] | Other Investments [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	1,545	542
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	291	202
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(33)	0
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	$ 1,803	$ 744