Hans Reiser’s children Rory, 8, and Niorline, 7, represented pro bono by Morrison and Foerster, the big-time San Francisco law firm, have sued their father for the wrongful death of their mother, seeking unspecified damages for being deprived of her “love, support, companionship, comfort, affection and society.”

The suit, filed last Thursday in Alameda County Superior Court, the day before Reiser was sentenced to 15 years to life for the murder of his estranged wife, charges the Linux programmer with inflicting “severe emotional distress and psychological trauma” on the children, who were in the house when he strangled her.

In his confession Reiser claimed the children were none the wiser but according to Rory’s testimony, the boy saw Reiser remove the body from the house in a bag before burying it a half-mile away in the woods.

Their attorney said the children, who now live with their maternal grandmother in Russia, were financially strapped.

Although Reiser has claimed to be practically broke having spent his money seeking custody of his children – which had been awarded to his wife – and then on the murder trial, Morrison and Foerster ain’t quite buying it. It figures his company, Namesys Inc, and some patents he holds might be worth something.

It will evidently also try to attach the proceeds of anything Reiser invents during his long prison stretch.

At his sentencing last Friday, Reiser said, “I’m very sorry for the terrible harm I’ve caused my children” and mumbled something about setting up a trust fund for them for other people to contribute to.

Reiser reportedly said he would leave Namesys and his file system to them but the San Francisco Chronicle quotes Reiser’s lawyer Richard Tamor as saying, “Liability is fairly clear given the guilty plea but, nevertheless, as you saw from the trial, [the children’s attorney] is going to rue the day they decided to engage Hans in litigation – they’ll prevail eventually, but it will be a long, painful journey getting there.”