I was sure I used to be able to zero transforms on an element including all of its children (as in, zeroing the hand along with all digits), but now can't find the feature. 

Does anyone know of a python script that could manage this?

Yes the Poser Tool Box and BVH Helper scripts have this ability.

http://www.philc.net/PTB_page2.php#figureUtilities

http://www.philc.net/BVH_helper.php

The joint editor may do that , dont know about all the children.

Quote - Yes the Poser Tool Box and BVH Helper scripts have this ability.

http://www.philc.net/PTB_page2.php#figureUtilities

http://www.philc.net/BVH_helper.php

Wow!  I like the looks of your tool box!

Couple of questions...

• Does the Better Hand Posing work on all figures equally well, or was it optimized for V3 or V4?  And does this perform like the Grasp morphforms of the later figures?  Just trying to figure out if this would be redundant on Gen4s.
• Would the Vertex Magnets serve to "indent" a surface as well as pull it as shown in the example?  

Again, great looking utilities!

Better hand posing will work on all figures. It adds ERC controls to the hand so that you can grasp with all the fingers or curl each finger and thumb separately. Plus you can spread the fingers. If a figure already has these controls, and they are working to your liking then there is probably no reason for adding a second set.

Yes you can push and translate as well as pull with the vertex magnets.

Hope that helps :)