would the MAIN reason for a salesperson to have a full education in
real estate be to know who signs what papers, or, know who the
property passes to when it is time?

To be a real estate agent (atleast in CA) you will have to take a
class and pass the Dept of Real Estate (DRE) exam.  I'm not sure what
you mean by a "full education", but if you pass the DRE exam, you
would be able to work under a real estate broker. All agents MUST work
for a broker.  Agents would need to know how to fill out some
paperwork, but you would go over most of that in the RE class.  Most
of the "heavy" signing will be taken care of at escrow and won't be
your concern.  Wasn't sure what you meant by this: "who the property
passes to when it is time"  If you mean when they die, that would be
something handled through their estate and wouldn't involve you.  If
you mean when the title is transferred for the actual sale, that would
be handled in escrow (not your concern)