Deferred Preneed Funeral and Cemetery Receipts Held in Trust and Care Trusts' Corpus (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2013	Dec. 31, 2013
Component of Other Income, Nonoperating [Line Items]
Deferred preneed funeral and cemetery receipts held in trust, excluding accrued expenses	$ 3,335,023		$ 3,335,023		$ 3,232,640
Accrued trust operating payables and other	(4,063)		(4,063)		(2,806)
Deferred preneed funeral and cemetery receipts held in trust	3,330,960		3,330,960		3,229,834
Care trusts’ corpus	1,404,267		1,404,267		1,342,574
Realized gains from sales of available-for-sale securities	46,390	52,192	93,068	83,921
Realized losses from sales of available-for-sale securities	(6,818)	(11,770)	(10,928)	(15,983)
Other than Temporary Impairment Losses, Investments, Portion Recognized in Earnings, Net	(305)	(1,512)	(935)	(2,132)
Interest, dividend, and other ordinary income	25,266	30,905	42,921	40,340
Trust expenses and income taxes	(11,482)	(6,753)	(22,311)	(13,378)
Net trust investment income	53,051	63,062	101,815	92,768
Investment Income, Nonoperating, Effect on Deferred Preneed Receipts Held in Trust and Care Trust Corpus'	(53,051)	(63,062)	(101,815)	(92,768)
Other income, net	50	(695)	1,586	(1,680)
Total other income, net	50	(695)	1,586	(1,680)
Funeral
Component of Other Income, Nonoperating [Line Items]
Deferred preneed funeral and cemetery receipts held in trust, excluding accrued expenses	1,678,206		1,678,206		1,647,273
Accrued trust operating payables and other	(1,801)		(1,801)		(1,108)
Deferred preneed funeral and cemetery receipts held in trust	1,676,405		1,676,405		1,646,165
Realized gains from sales of available-for-sale securities	15,911	17,330	32,012	28,701
Realized losses from sales of available-for-sale securities	(2,665)	(4,445)	(4,139)	(6,166)
Other than Temporary Impairment Losses, Investments, Portion Recognized in Earnings, Net	(119)	(446)	(370)	(646)
Interest, dividend, and other ordinary income	7,900	14,206	13,474	16,023
Trust expenses and income taxes	(4,978)	(2,657)	(9,445)	(5,038)
Net trust investment income	16,049	23,988	31,532	32,874
Investment Income, Nonoperating, Effect on Deferred Preneed Receipts Held in Trust and Care Trust Corpus'	(16,049)	(23,988)	(31,532)	(32,874)
Other income, net	0	0	0	0
Total other income, net	0	0	0	0
Cemetery
Component of Other Income, Nonoperating [Line Items]
Deferred preneed funeral and cemetery receipts held in trust, excluding accrued expenses					1,585,367
Accrued trust operating payables and other	(2,262)		(2,262)		(1,698)
Deferred preneed funeral and cemetery receipts held in trust	1,654,555		1,654,555		1,583,669
Realized gains from sales of available-for-sale securities	20,655	29,743	46,187	46,319
Realized losses from sales of available-for-sale securities	(3,826)	(6,885)	(6,125)	(9,055)
Other than Temporary Impairment Losses, Investments, Portion Recognized in Earnings, Net	(179)	(940)	(518)	(1,297)
Interest, dividend, and other ordinary income	4,981	8,915	7,476	10,444
Trust expenses and income taxes	(4,377)	(3,087)	(9,192)	(6,756)
Net trust investment income	17,254	27,746	37,828	39,655
Investment Income, Nonoperating, Effect on Deferred Preneed Receipts Held in Trust and Care Trust Corpus'	(17,254)	(27,746)	(37,828)	(39,655)
Other income, net	0	0	0	0
Total other income, net	0	0	0	0
Cemetery Perpetual Care
Component of Other Income, Nonoperating [Line Items]
Accrued trust operating payables and other	(807)		(807)		(1,748)
Care trusts' corpus, excluding accrued expenses	1,405,074		1,405,074		1,344,322
Care trusts’ corpus	1,404,267		1,404,267		1,342,574
Realized gains from sales of available-for-sale securities	9,824	5,119	14,869	8,901
Realized losses from sales of available-for-sale securities	(327)	(440)	(664)	(762)
Other than Temporary Impairment Losses, Investments, Portion Recognized in Earnings, Net	(7)	(126)	(47)	(189)
Interest, dividend, and other ordinary income	12,385	7,784	21,971	13,873
Trust expenses and income taxes	(2,127)	(1,009)	(3,674)	(1,584)
Net trust investment income	19,748	11,328	32,455	20,239
Investment Income, Nonoperating, Effect on Deferred Preneed Receipts Held in Trust and Care Trust Corpus'	(19,748)	(11,328)	(32,455)	(20,239)
Other income, net	0	0	0	0
Total other income, net	0	0	0	0
Intersegment Eliminations
Component of Other Income, Nonoperating [Line Items]
Realized gains from sales of available-for-sale securities	0	0	0	0
Realized losses from sales of available-for-sale securities	0	0	0	0
Other than Temporary Impairment Losses, Investments, Portion Recognized in Earnings, Net	0	0	0	0
Interest, dividend, and other ordinary income	0	0	0	0
Trust expenses and income taxes	0	0	0	0
Net trust investment income	0	0	0	0
Investment Income, Nonoperating, Effect on Deferred Preneed Receipts Held in Trust and Care Trust Corpus'	0	0	0	0
Other income, net	50	(695)	1,586	(1,680)
Total other income, net	$ 50	$ (695)	$ 1,586	$ (1,680)