GOODWILL

Many of the former owners and staff of acquired funeral homes have provided high quality service to families for generations. The resulting loyalty often represents a substantial portion of the value of a business. The excess of the purchase price over the fair value of net identifiable assets acquired and liabilities assumed, as determined by management in business acquisition transactions accounted for as purchases, is recorded as goodwill.

The following table presents the changes in goodwill on our Consolidated Balance Sheets (in thousands):




Goodwill as of December 31, 2013	$	221,087
Increase in goodwill related to acquisitions	33,826
Impairments and changes in previous estimates	(1,323		)
Reclassification of assets held-for-sale	(17		)
Goodwill as of June 30, 2014	$	253,573

The increase to goodwill in the six months ended June 30, 2014 represents the goodwill recorded in connection with the SCI Acquisition completed in May 2014. During the six months ended June 30, 2014, we recorded an impairment of $1.2 million related to a business discontinued in the second quarter of 2014 as the carrying value exceeded fair value. As such, this amount is recorded within discontinued operations on our Consolidated Statement of Operations. Additionally, we recorded a $0.1 million purchase price allocation adjustment related to a funeral home business acquisition completed in November 2013. Our purchase price allocation for this acquisition, as well as the SCI Acquisition, is dependent upon certain valuations, which have not progressed to a stage where there is sufficient information to make a definitive measure and allocation of goodwill and other intangible assets. Material revisions to the ongoing current estimates may be necessary when the valuation process is completed, which is expected to occur within a year after the respective acquisition closing dates.