Preneed Activities Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Dec. 31, 2020	Dec. 31, 2019
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	$ 3,569,675
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	687,303
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(88,603)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	4,168,375
Estimate of Fair Value Measurement [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis		$ 3,600,688
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains		385,203
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses		(126,983)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value		3,858,908
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 [Member] | US Treasury Securities [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	44,907	49,728
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	1,566	752
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(272)	(130)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	46,201	50,350
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 [Member] | Debt Security, Government, Non-US [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	30,210	41,093
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	51	76
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(157)	(850)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	30,104	40,319
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 [Member] | Corporate Debt Securities [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	1,669	9,694
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	14	28
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(8)	(172)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,675	9,550
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 [Member] | Residential Mortgage Backed Securities [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	2,438	3,210
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	131	59
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	0	(1)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	2,569	3,268
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 [Member] | Asset-backed Securities [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	174	129
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	3	3
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(5)	(4)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	172	128
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 2 [Member] | Preferred Stock securities [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	358	6,338
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	0	804
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(24)	(115)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	334	7,027
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 [Member] | US Common Stock Securities [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	1,500,125	1,349,828
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	503,757	303,766
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(54,748)	(36,507)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,949,134	1,617,087
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 [Member] | Canada Common Stock Securities [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	35,016	43,866
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	10,915	12,369
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(1,823)	(2,075)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	44,108	54,160
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 [Member] | Other International Common Stock Securities [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	110,775	95,257
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	39,837	18,227
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(1,831)	(522)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	148,781	112,962
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 [Member] | Equity Funds [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	821,406	746,581
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	95,155	31,511
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(10,437)	(54,020)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	906,124	724,072
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 1 [Member] | Fixed Income Funds [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	1,022,409	1,247,930
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	35,872	16,424
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(19,298)	(32,587)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,038,983	1,231,767
Fair Value, Inputs, Level 3 [Member] | Other Investments [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	188	7,034
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	2	1,184
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	0	0
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	190	8,218
Reported Value Measurement [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	1,489,246
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	204,024
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(10,457)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	1,682,813
Reported Value Measurement [Member] | Commingled funds - Fixed inc [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	657,219	444,744
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	37,474	5,077
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(173)	(1,731)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	694,520	448,090
Reported Value Measurement [Member] | Commingled funds - Equity [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	283,329	249,980
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	97,704	47,631
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	0	0
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	381,033	297,611
Reported Value Measurement [Member] | Money Market Funds [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	330,745	397,461
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	0	0
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	0	0
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	330,745	397,461
Reported Value Measurement [Member] | Private Equity Funds [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	217,953	176,388
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	68,846	80,283
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(10,284)	(422)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	276,515	256,249
Reported Value Measurement [Member] | Reported At Net Asset Value [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis		1,268,573
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains		132,991
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses		(2,153)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value		1,399,411
Estimate of Fair Value Measurement [Member]
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	5,058,921	4,869,261
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Gains	891,327	518,194
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Unrealized Losses	(99,060)	(129,136)
Available-for-sale Securities, Fair Value	$ 5,851,188	$ 5,258,319