Statute of limitations (SOL) determine whether there is a need to pay a charged off account. If the statutes have expired, you are under no obligation to pay it. However, it will remain in your credit report for a period of seven years as per the FCRA laws.
You can unburden your debt if you are aware of the SOL period in your state. It is calculated from the date of last activity in your account and if the statutes as per the state laws have expired, you can legally escape from paying it.
Collectors wait for you to make an activity in your account. Even if a particular account has gone out of your credit report, they wait to see you making an activity on it so that the collections can be brought back in legal terms. This account will again get reflected in your credit report and you will have no way but to pay it off.
Expiry of the SOL does not stop the collection agency or the creditor from collecting the debt from you. You will have to show your defense by mentioning the expiry of SOL. In case, the creditor sues you and you fail to prove your dispute of the expiry of the SOL, you might have a lost lawsuit and a valid judgment against you.