Why is it necessary to vacate a judgment after bankruptcy is discharged and closed?

[AbbeyA]

I have searched the forum, but I can't find an exact answer .... why must a judgment be vacated after bk discharge? Once it's discharged, how will it continue to cause problems?

DH has a judgment against him in the state of Wisconsin. We live in Illinois. When he looked at how to vacate a judgment in Wisconsin, it said it had to be done within one year of the date the judgment was issued. It has been well over a year since the judgment was issued -- do the courts really hold firm on that one year rule since it was discharged in bk? What can he do about this if they hold true to the one year rule?

Thanks for any information you can provide.

[HHM]

It is not "necessary" per se.

However the reason is this. Bankruptcy is Federal Court, and most creditor judgments are in state court. The discharge is a "mere" injunction from collection, the discharge doesn't actually "eliminate" or "erase" debts. So, the reason to vacate the judgment is to get the judgment out of the public record so it no longer shows up in credit reports and other financial back ground checks. (at least, that is the theory )

[AbbeyA]

thank you for your explanation HHM, I really appreciate it. Even though the year has passed since the judgment was issued, we are going to still try to have it vacated.