Equity Components of Accumulated Other Comrehensive income (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2017	Mar. 31, 2016
Treasury Stock, Shares, Acquired	2,813,134
Treasury Stock, Value, Acquired, Par Value Method	$ 83,500
Treasury Stock Acquired, Average Cost Per Share	$ 29.67
Accumulated other comprehensive income [Roll Forward]
Balance at beginning of period	$ 16,492	$ 6,164
Activity	177,913
Change in net unrealized gains associated with available-for-sale securities of the trusts, net of taxes	69,351	17,985
Reclassification of net unrealized gain activity attributable to the Deferred preneed funeral and cemetery receipts held in trust and Care trusts’ corpus’, net of taxes	(69,351)	(17,985)
Balance at end of period	19,656	28,871
Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss)
Accumulated other comprehensive income [Roll Forward]
Activity	3,164	22,707
Foreign Currency Gain (Loss)
Accumulated other comprehensive income [Roll Forward]
Balance at beginning of period	16,492	6,164
Activity	3,164	22,707
Balance at end of period	19,656	28,871
Accumulated Net Unrealized Investment Gain (Loss)
Accumulated other comprehensive income [Roll Forward]
Balance at beginning of period	0	0
Change in net unrealized gains associated with available-for-sale securities of the trusts, net of taxes	69,351	17,985
Reclassification of net unrealized gain activity attributable to the Deferred preneed funeral and cemetery receipts held in trust and Care trusts’ corpus’, net of taxes	(69,351)	(17,985)
Balance at end of period	$ 0	$ 0