Preneed Activities Investment Related Activities (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2018	Mar. 31, 2017
Investment related activities [Line Items]
Deposits	$ 93,269	$ 84,487
Withdrawals	106,769	93,082
Purchases of available-for-sale securities	599,651	517,031
Sales of available-for-sale securities	614,424	487,925
Realized gains on investments	58,306	52,433
Realized losses on investments	$ (12,296)	$ (21,774)

Amounts deposited to trust during the period.

No definition available.

Name:	sci_DepositsToTrust
Namespace Prefix:	sci_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Line items represents information regarding deposits, withdrawals, purchase and sales of securities, and realized gains and losses from those sales.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	sci_InvestmentRelatedActivitiesLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	sci_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Realized gains on investments

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	sci_Realizedgainsoninvestments
Namespace Prefix:	sci_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Realized losses on investments

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	sci_Realizedlossesoninvestments
Namespace Prefix:	sci_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amounts withdrawn from trust during the period.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	sci_WithdrawalsFromTrust
Namespace Prefix:	sci_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The cash outflow to acquire debt and equity securities not classified as either held-to-maturity securities or trading securities which would be classified as available-for-sale securities and reported at fair value, with unrealized gains and losses excluded from earnings and reported in a separate component of shareholders' equity.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 13
-Subparagraph (a),(b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=98514028&loc=d3e3213-108585

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 320
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 11
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=82896770&loc=d3e26853-111562

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_PaymentsToAcquireAvailableForSaleSecurities
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The cash inflow associated with the sale of debt and equity securities classified as available-for-sale securities.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 320
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 11
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=82896770&loc=d3e26853-111562

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 12
-Subparagraph (a),(b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=98514028&loc=d3e3179-108585

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ProceedsFromSaleOfAvailableForSaleSecurities
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration