Debts and credit score

his year I decided to get in control of my financial situation. To be honest, a while ago I experienced some domestic violence, left my marriage with my children, found coping hard, ended up struggling with money and getting into a substantial amount of debt. Around $30,000 in credit card and pay day loan debt. Very foolish and I’m very ashamed.
I’ve been reading Barefoot investor and making positive changes in life, living within my means and doing my best to repay as much as I can. I got a copy of my credit report from Illion, and saw that I have 4 defaults, which I knew about, and a court judgement, which I did not know I had, as well as multiple enquiries for credit. This has lead to my credit score being extremely low.
My question is, since some of these defaults are quite old, would I be better off paying them off or not, just letting them fall of my record as they age out?
I want to do the right thing that will see my credit rating improve as much as possible, and to instil in myself positive behavioural changes that will see me make better financial choices in the future.