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Exhibit 12

STEWART ENTERPRISES, INC.
AND SUBSIDIARIES

Calculation of Ratio of Earnings to Fixed Charges
(Dollars in thousands)

(Unaudited)

|                                                                                                 |                                   |   |              |        |                         |   |         |        |      |   |          |         |      |   |         |        |  |   |         |        |  |   |         |        | 
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | --------------------------------- | - | ------------ | ------ | ----------------------- | - | ------- | ------ | ---- | - | -------- | ------- | ---- | - | ------- | ------ |  | - | ------- | ------ |  | - | ------- | ------ | 
|                                                                                                 |                                   |   | Three Months |        |                         |   |         |        |      |   |          |         |      |   |         |        |  |   |         |        |  |   |        
|                                                                                                 |                                   |   | Ended        |        | Years Ended October 31,
|                                                                                                 |                                   |   | January 31,  |        |                        
|                                                                                                 |                                   |   | 2003         |        | 2002                    |   | 2001    |        | 2000 |   | 1999     |         | 1998
|                                                                                                 |                                   |   |              |        |                         |   |         |        |      |   |          |         |     
|Earnings (loss) from operations
before income taxes                                              |                                   | $ | 15,278       |        |                         | $ | 49,321  | (2)    |      | $ | (187,181 | )(3)(4) |      | $ | 105,187 |        |  | $ | 142,551 | (5)    |  | $ | 64,964  | (6)   
|Fixed charges:                                                                                   |                                   |   |              |        |                         |   |         |        |      |   |          |         |      |   |         |        |  |   |         |        |  |   |         |       
|                                                                                                 | Interest charges (1)              |   |              | 13,660 |                         |   |         | 62,655 |      |   |          | 64,235  |      |   |         | 62,748 |  |   |         | 55,543 |  |   |         | 44,107 | 
|                                                                                                 | Interest portion of lease expense |   |              | 448    |                         |   |         | 2,258  |      |   |          | 2,882   |      |   |         | 3,379  |  |   |         | 2,859  |  |   |         | 2,814  | 
|                                                                                                 |                                   |   |              |        |                         |   |         |        |      |   |          |         |      |   |         |        |  |   |         |        |  |   |         |       
|Total fixed charges                                                                              |                                   |   | 14,108       |        |                         |   | 64,913  |        |      |   | 67,117   |         |      |   | 66,127  |        |  |   | 58,402  |        |  |   | 46,921  |       
|Earnings (loss) from operations before
income taxes and fixed charges, less
capitalized interest |                                   | $ | 29,303       |        |                         | $ | 113,918 | (2)    |      | $ | (120,727 | )(3)(4) |      | $ | 169,960 |        |  | $ | 200,118 | (5)    |  | $ | 111,599 | (6)   
|                                                                                                 |                                   |   |              |        |                         |   |         |        |      |   |          |         |      |   |         |        |  |   |         |        |  |   |         |       
|Ratio of earnings to fixed charges                                                               |                                   |   | 2.08         |        |                         |   | 1.75    | (2)    |      |   |         | (3)(4)  |      |   | 2.57    |        |  |   | 3.43    | (5)    |  |   | 2.38    | (6)   
|                                                                                                 |                                   |   |              |        |                         |   |         |        |      |   |          |         |      |   |         |        |  |   |         |        |  |   |         |       



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|(1) |  | Includes capitalized interest expense of $83 for the three months ended
January 31, 2003 and $316, $663, $1,354, $835 and $286 for fiscal years ended
2002, 2001, 2000, 1999 and 1998, respectively.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
|--- |  | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|   
|(2) |  | Includes a noncash charge of $18,500 recorded in connection with the
writedown of assets held for sale. Excluding this charge, the Companys ratio
of earnings to fixed charges for fiscal year 2002 would have been 2.04.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
|   
|(3) |  | Excludes extraordinary item of $5,472 (net of a $3,648 income tax benefit)
and the cumulative effect of change in accounting principles of $250,004 (net
of a $166,669 income tax benefit).                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
|   
|(4) |  | Includes a noncash charge of $269,158 recorded in connection with the
writedowns of assets held for sale and other charges. As a result of this
charge, the Companys earnings for fiscal year 2001 were insufficient to cover
its fixed charges, and an additional $187,844 in pretax earnings would have
been required to eliminate the coverage deficiency. Excluding the charge, the
Companys ratio of earnings to fixed charges would have been 2.21.
|   
|(5) |  | Excludes cumulative effect of change in accounting principle of $50,101
(net of $28,798 income tax benefit).                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
|   
|(6) |  | Includes a nonrecurring, noncash charge of $76,762 recorded in connection
with the vesting of the Companys performance-based stock options. Excluding
the charge, the Companys ratio of earnings to fixed charges for fiscal year
1998 would have been 4.01.                                                                                                                                                                                             

During the periods presented, the Company had no preferred stock
outstanding. Therefore, the ratio of earnings to combined fixed charges and
preference dividends was the same as the ratio of earnings to fixed charges for
each of the periods presented.