A judgment should not be entered without notice to the defendant, but it happens from time to time. For example, if a process server tacks the suit papers to what he thinks is the defendant's door but the defendant had moved out a week before, the lawyer for the creditor will think he has given proper notice and will ask the court to enter a default judgment. The judgment can be overturned if the defendant finds out about it and convinces the judge that she never got service of the suit papers, but until that happens the judgment just sits there for all the credit bureaus to see. In addition, if they record the judgment in the proper office, then it might prevent your wife from selling or refinancing any real estate that happens to be in her name.

If you haven't heard from them in 10 years, then they probably dropped it.

By the way, the legal system calls it a "judgment,", not a "judgement." I don't know why.