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Income Taxes - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $) | 1 Months Ended | 12 Months Ended |  |  | 8 Months Ended |  | 4 Months Ended | 12 Months Ended |  |  |  |  |
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Sep. 30, 2011 | Dec. 31, 2013 | Apr. 30, 2013 | Dec. 31, 2012 | Dec. 31, 2013 Successor Ambac [Member] | Apr. 30, 2013 Successor Ambac [Member] | Apr. 30, 2013 Predecessor Ambac [Member] | Dec. 31, 2012 Predecessor Ambac [Member] | Dec. 31, 2011 Predecessor Ambac [Member] | Dec. 31, 2013 United States [Member] | Dec. 31, 2013 United Kingdom [Member] | Dec. 31, 2013 U. S. Federal Net Operating Tax [Member] | Dec. 31, 2013 AFG [Member] | Apr. 30, 2013 Ambac [Member] | Dec. 31, 2010 Ambac [Member] | Apr. 30, 2013 Segregated Account [Member]
Tax Credit Carryforward [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Operating loss carryforward |  | $ 6,220,353,000 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | $ 605,441,000 | $ 297,919,000 |  | $ 1,396,673,000 |  |  |
Net operating tax carryforward |  | 270,321,000 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | 5,316,993,000 |  |  |  |
Expiration period |  | Expiring in 2029, and will fully expire in 2034 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Operating tax carryforward expiration year start |  | 2029 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Operating tax carryforward expiration year end |  | 2034 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Payment to settle the IRS dispute and related proceedings |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | 1,900,000 |  | 100,000,000
Loss carry forwards exceed |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | 3,400,000,000 |
Excess amount of loss carryforward relinquishment |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | 1,059,988,000 |
Reduction of NOL due to bankruptcy |  | 816,380,000 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Unrecognized tax benefits |  | 0 | 0 | 96,900,000 |  |  |  | 96,900,000 | 96,900,000 |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Interest expense recognized |  |  |  |  | 0 |  | 0 | 0 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Interest accrued |  | 0 | 0 | 0 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Federal obligation liability | $ 3,650,000,000 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Federal income tax liability rate | 25.00% |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |

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- Definition The amount of estimated interest accrued as of the balance sheet date arising from income tax examinations. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 740 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 15 -Subparagraph (c) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6907707&loc=d3e32718-109319 + Details
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